I'll be your Soldier
by Ellabee15
Summary: Felicity Smoak is kidnapped by the league of Assassins. Over the next 2 years a new Winter Soldier comes to the attention of Captain America. (This story begins at the beginning of season 3 in the Arrow timeline and after Captain America: The winter soldier in the Marvel universe.)
1. Chapter 1

"Sara's death will not go unavenged." Nyssa had promised. The words echoed in Oliver's mind as he sat in the hospital room looking at the assassin's broken form. 3 days after the confrontation with Merlyn, Nyssa had returned to Starling city intent on warning Team Arrow of something. Then the lair had been overrun by Assassins. Oliver, Roy, Nyssa and Digg had fought them off…but not before they'd managed to take Felicity. Nyssa had fallen into a coma as a result of her injuries. Roy had called him after he'd taken her to the hospital to tell him that Merlyn had been found dead by the docks.

"What the hell happened?" Captain Lance came into the room.

"Captain."

"Laurel told me Nyssa was in the hospital, where's Sara?"

Oliver silently cursed Laurel. A confrontation with Lance was the last thing he needed right now.

"I-"

"Don't tell me you don't know, Queen." Lance glared. "I know you all think I'm stupid, but I'm not blind. If something bad has happened to Nyssa, it means something bad happened to Sara as well."

Oliver looked down at the ground and shook his head. Lane collapsed into his chair.

"Who did it?" Lance was shaking with anger and there were tears forming in his eyes.

"We're not sure." Oliver said quietly. "But the league blames me for not finding the person and…they took Felicity."

Lance glared at him. "Couldn't you stop them? And don't play dumb with me Queen, I know who you are."

"I tried." Oliver felt his anger and despair rising. "I think Nyssa came to warn us, but the league came. I couldn't stop them." He looked over at Nyssa. "I need her to wake up…so she can tell us where they took her."

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Felicity asked. She'd woken up in a darkened cell and spent about an hour trying to find an escape route before anyone had come for her. Then a group of assassins had dragged her out and began leading her through what she assumed was the League's hide out.

"Don't all talk at once." She grumbled when none of them answered her. Looking around she squinted in the candle light. "Your candle budget must be ridiculous. Also who cleans up all the wax? Wouldn't it be cheaper and more efficient to have electricity?" The assassins remained silent.

"Blink if you can hear me." Felicity said.

"He does not speak English." A man spoke. Felicity turned to see that they'd entered a large hall. Standing in the middle was a man in elaborate black robes.

"I'm guessing you're in charge around here." Felicity said.

"Have care how you speak to the Demon's head." One of the faceless assassins who was standing in the shadows hissed.

"Thank you Serab" Ra's said.

"Why am I here?" Felicity asked. Ra's turned his back to her.

"To teach Oliver Queen a lesson in obedience." He said.

Felicity saw a knife sticking out of the belt of the assassin standing in front of her. She could hide it and use it later to pick the lock of her cell. Inching forward, she hoped Ra's wouldn't turn around.

"Obedience?" She asked.

"He defied a direct order. My daughter's …beloved was killed and he did not uncover the identity of the killer as instructed."

"This is about more than just Sara." Felicity said as she nimbly grabbed the knife from the Assassin's belt and hid it up her sleeve.

Ra's turned to look at her with contempt.

"I was Sara's friend." Felicity continued. "She told me about how you shut her out the second she and Nyssa began their relationship. You never approved of them and you never approved of her. This has nothing to do with wanting justice for her."

"You possess the same iron will that Ta el Asfer did when she was first found." Ra's said as he walked closer. "As well as her foolishness." He held out his hand. "Give me the dagger."

Felicity forced her face to go blank. "What dagger?"

"Do not presume to play games with me, Ms. Smoak."

"You want the dagger?" Felicity hissed. "Here it is." Snapping her wrist so the knife slid out of her sleeve into her hand, she attempted to stab Ra's. He caught her wrist and twisted her around so it was pinned behind her back.

"Drop the dagger." He said calmly into Felicity's ear. Felicity shivered in disgust, but did as he said.

"Let me guess." Ra's said, twisting her back around so she was facing him. "The Canary taught you that move and how to pickpocket. Skills that she learned from my daughter." He turned to the assassin who Felicity had stolen the knife from.

"Thank you, that will be all." Turning to face the shadows he asked. "Will she suffice for your experiments, Baron?"

"Yes," a figure stepped forward. He was a bald man in his early forties and he was wearing a monocle. "She will do quite nicely."

"Experiments?" Felicity tried to pull away from Ra's, but he shoved her forward so she fell at the Baron's feet. "You knew I would try to take the dagger. It was a test."

"She's a smart one." The Baron said as he gripped her hair to examine her.

Ra's smiled, "You were correct in your assertions that our attack had nothing to do with avenging the Canary. I owed the Baron a debt. You are simply a means of repaying it and of teaching Oliver Queen how to show the proper respect for an order from the Demon's head."

Hands grabbed her and dragged her from the room.

"She's strong willed." Ra's remarked. "She will not make it easy for you."

"We require a new Asset." Baron von Strucker said. "It is always the most moral that become the most lethal when they are broken. And fortunately, Hydra has many ways to make her more compliant."


	2. Chapter 2

**Spoilers for Age of Ultron. This story is going to follow some of the events from the movie so if you haven't seen it be warned that there are spoilers.**

mladshaya sestra - russian for little sister

* * *

"Can you tell me your name?" The man with the thick accent and white hair asked. The Asset looked up at him in confusion. Slowly she shook her head. He gave her a sad smile. "How about mine?"

The Asset looked down at the ground. Clutching her head she gasped as a wave of pain washed through her head. What the man was asking her was forbidden. She had no name, she was the Asset.

"I have no name. I am the Asset." She said, softly hoping to lessen the pain. She was huddled in the corner of her cell. The man and a woman had come in with food. The man glared and turned to the woman behind him. "They've wiped her again." Turning back to her, he pulled her into his arms.

"It's alright, mladshaya sestra." He murmured. "Try to remember, Wanda and Pietro."

The Asset looked at the arms circling her in confusion. "No." She whispered. "NO!" She pushed Pietro away with such force that he flew across the cell and crashed into the wall. Wanda held up her hands. Humming softly she advanced, her hands beginning to glow red. The frightened Asset whimpered as the glow encased her head. Then the pain stopped and the Asset relaxed.

"It is better than the last time." Pietro muttered as he stood and brushed himself off. "Last time she tried to strangle me."

"You could have dodged." Wanda chided as she sat next to the Asset and began brushing her hair. "It's not like you aren't fast enough."

"She doesn't react well to my powers." Pietro said ashamed. "They're too similar to her friends'…I believe his name is Barry, and it causes her pain to try and remember."

"Ba-rry." The Asset said slowly. The word felt strange on her tongue. It seemed that it was familiar but she couldn't figure out why. The twins grew silent.

"Hush, mladshaya sestra." Wanda said, quietly. "Shhh. You need rest." She continued brushing the Asset's hair, but her hands began glowing red again. The red encased the Asset's head and she began getting drowsy. Wanda caught her as she leaned back and fell asleep. She turned and hit Pietro on the arm.

"Ouch."

"Why are you causing trouble?" Wanda hissed.

"Because she didn't choose this." Pietro looked down angrily at the sleeping form of the Asset. "We chose to join Hydra to avenge our parents, but they did this to her without her permission." He sat down heavily. "She was good and kind. She even thought she needed to save us."

"I remember." Wanda murmured softly. "That was the first time they wiped her memory. After they found out that they could not break her…she was too strong willed for them."

Pietro hesitated before asking, "Can you restore her memories?" Dreading the answer he knew Wanda was about to give.

Wanda shook her head. "I already tried. Remember what they did to her, to us?" She shook her head. "Even if there were no reprisals, the damage of constantly having her memories return only to have them torn from her would be too much to handle. She would go mad."

"They are monsters no better than Stark." Pietro spat.

"I am beginning to believe you are right." Wanda looked down at the sleeping blonde. Hydra had managed to destroy one of the kindest people she and her brother had ever met. She was now a tool, a weapon to be pointed at whatever target Hydra wanted out of the way. She had been enhanced; the chemicals they injected into her were left over from an older project. Another person had undergone this same treatment. The Baron seemed pleased with the results, but both Maximoffs went to bed everynight with the screams and pleads from the first time she'd been forced into the memory machine echoing in their ears.

"2 years." Pietro murmured. "They've had her for over 2 years."

"I know." Wanda said. "But she will have her freedom soon, she will be shielded from Hydra."

"Why not now?" Pietro glared. Wanda sighed; it was an argument they had frequently.

"The future is not set in stone." Wanda explained. "I see multiple options and choices. The three of us breaking out now…there is no path where that ends in anything but bloodshed. The best path, for her and for us, is to wait."

"While more blood stains her hands." Pietro hissed.

"I can remove that blood." Wanda insisted. Pietro grew silent. Then he snorted.

"The psychic thing is creepy. You know that?"

Wanda smiled.

"She looks so peaceful there." He murmured. "She hardly looks dangerous. We need to keep her safe, we are her only…family."

"It won't be long now." Wanda whispered. "Soon we will all have what we want. Justice for our parents and freedom for Felicity Smoak."

* * *

"Cap, I've got some information, but you're not going to like it."

Steve sighed as he braced himself for Sam's news.

"Is it about Bucky?"

"No."

Hearing Sam's answer gave Steve a small sense of relief, but it was only temporary as he realized that no news about Bucky was actually worse.

"Well… actually it does have something to do with Barnes, but not directly." Sam continued.

"Sam, what do you mean?"

"There's been a string of assassinations. Ever since Barnes disappeared there's been a rash of weird deaths with Soviet bullets." Sam said. "The kills aren't as precise as Barnes. The aim is messy and the killer isn't as good at covering up as he is."

Steve froze. "You think Hydra has a new Winter Soldier."

"No." Sam said. "I know Hydra has a new Winter Soldier."

Steve closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. The thought of someone else going through what Bucky had been through was horrifying.

"There was camera footage." Sam continued. "That AIDS researcher who was killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo last week. All the cameras in the facility were shut off except one. It's as if the soldier wanted to be caught. I'm sending you the footage."

"Do we have any idea who he is?" Steve asked as he went to his laptop to open Sam's message. Sam let out a humorless laugh.

"Don't be so old fashioned Cap. I never said the soldier was a man."

Steve watched in horror as a small blonde woman came into the laboratory and shot the scientist. Then she arranged it to look like the scientist had committed suicide. There was a pause as the woman froze. She took off her mask, covered her mouth with her hands as if she were horrified at the scene in front of her. Then she looked at the camera. Rushing to the computer her fingers hovered over the keyboard. She seemed frustrated as if there was something she wanted to do, but couldn't. Covering her face she began rocking back and forth. Then she stiffened. Leaning over the keyboard she began typing, her fingers a flurry of movement. She punched the air in victory…just as Hydra agents came into the lab and dragged her away from the screen. The feed cut, but not before Steve saw her beginning to fight the agents only to be tazed into submission.

"That was sent to a Starling City server this morning." Sam said. "It was intercepted by ARGUS before it could reach its destination. I've had Stark's AI helping me with the web aspect of the search and he was able to copy it before ARGUS sealed access completely."

"She's been enhanced." Steve said. "But it's clear she hasn't had a lot of training. And she's fighting their programming."

"Well having ARGUS know about her might not be helpful." Sam grumbled. "My cousin Amanda is in charge and well…let's just say she isn't included on the Wilson family Christmas card list."

"Thanks for the update Sam."

"She called her agents in on thanksgiving because she suspected my mom of treason." Sam said, clearly lost in his memories. "It was only a badly timed joke."

"Keep me updated on anything you might hear about Bucky or this new soldier." Steve said.

"Aye aye, Captain." Sam said and Steve could practically hear the snarky salute that he knew his friend had included.

Hanging up he looked back at the screen. He played the video and paused it at the part where the soldier took off her mask. She seemed so young, her eyes so wide and horrified. She appeared small and fragile, but Steve knew better than to underestimate her. She was fighting Hydra's mind control which meant she was a lot stronger than she appeared, both physically and mentally. He printed out the image of her face and put the photo in the file he kept with the information on Bucky.

"Whoever you are," he murmured. "I'm going to find you and I'll help you."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been 2 years. Oliver and Team Arrow, along with Team Flash had chased down every lead to find her, but they'd come up with nothing, not a whisper, not a clue. They'd gone to Nanda Parbat, Ra's informed them that he had no idea where Strucker had taken Felicity…after he threatened complete annihilation of Starling city. Nyssa was promptly disowned for her role in aiding the teams gain access to the compound. Much had changed over the last 2 years. Thea had discovered Oliver's secret, Laurel had attempted to take up Sara's mask after much training from Nyssa, and Barry's mentor had turned out to be a time-traveling murderer. And yet, no one could find any trace of Felicity.

"Oliver." Digg said one night after Oliver had split open his hand by breaking a training dummy. "We might want to consider – "

"Don't" Oliver growled.

"We might want to consider," Digg continued, "the possibility that we're not going to find her."

Oliver sank to his knees.

"It's been 2 years, man." Digg said softly. "I miss her too, but if I know her she'd want you to live, not drive yourself insane."

"It's my fault she's gone." Oliver's voice was hollow. "Whatever Strucker and Hydra did to her is because of me. I need to find her, to make it right."

"Oliver – " Digg began.

"Until I find a body, I won't stop looking." Oliver said. "If the situation was reversed, she would never have given up on me."

Digg nodded. "I'll contact Star Labs to check if they have any new information."

Lyla burst through the door. "Get the team in here." She said.

Oliver's head snapped in her direction. "You found her?"

"I need the entire team here before I tell you what I found." Lyla said.

Oliver stood and walked over so he was towering over her. "Did you find her?"

Lyla met his eyes unflinchingly, "call the rest of the team." She said slowly.

20 minutes later Laurel, Nyssa, Captain Lance, and Thea came into the lair.

Roy came in last. "Did you find her?" he asked.

Lyla went over to the lair's computers. "Before I play this I want you to understand that me showing you this is an act of treason. Waller intercepted this hack about 10 hours ago, and ordered all of us to remain silent, but…" Lyla swallowed and opened the file. "I should warn you that you might not like what you see."

She turned on the video. Oliver watched in horror as a woman murdered an African scientist, then staged it to appear as a suicide. Then the woman took off her mask. It was –

"Felicity." He murmured. Sinking into her old chair he watched as she attempted to hack into the lab's computer.

"For the last two years there's been a new covert operative murdering for Hydra." Lyla explained. "Walter believes they created a new Winter Soldier after the original was lost in the fall of SHIELD. This footage proves not only the existence of new soldier, but her identity."

"She's not…she can't be." Oliver said.

"That scientist was making serious advances in HIV/AIDS research." Lyla continued. "Hydra's been making covert moves against AIDS research for years. This puts hope for a cure back decades. Waller's ordered the elimination of the soldier. The order is to kill, not capture."

"Stop calling her the soldier." Oliver hissed. "It's Felicity."

Lyla closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. "There's one more thing you should know. This video…the sol-Felicity tried to send the camera feed here before Waller intercepted the transmission."

Oliver stood and stormed out of the lair. Thea rushed after him.

"Ollie, where are you going?"

"I'm going down to ARGUS to force Waller to tell me everything she knows about this. Then I'm putting an arrow in her head."

"STOP" Thea planted herself in front of him. Oliver glared at her. "Ollie, listen to me. I didn't know Felicity, but I know that she wasn't the type of person who'd want you to kill for her. You started this to protect the city. Don't become the type of monster that – "

"I am that monster, Thea." Oliver growled. "She's…trying to get home. She knew to send it here." He closed his eyes. Thea stepped forward and hugged him.

"She's a killer." He whispered. "She's a killer and it's my fault. I should have protected her better."

"We'll find her." Thea murmured. "There is one option we haven't considered."

Oliver looked at her in confusion. Thea sighed and continued.

"There's only one force on earth that even Waller won't dare mess with. Barry has connections to the Avengers…maybe we should ask them for help."

Oliver ground his teeth, then pulled out his cellphone and sent Barry a quick text. About 3 minutes later the speedster was standing in front of them.

"You found her?" Barry asked.

"Not exactly." Oliver led him down to the lair and showed him the video. Barry's face twisted in anger and horror.

"Hydra's turned her into some type of human weapon. We need your help." Oliver said. "Waller found this and decided that Felicity needs to be put down."

"What do you want me to do?" Barry asked. Oliver gave him a grateful smile.

"You worked with the Avengers about a year ago to take down a Hydra cell in Central City. Do you think they'd help us?"

"I'll ask." Barry said. The team waited for a tense two minutes as Barry talked to someone on the phone. "So I told Maria Hill and she says that the Avengers just left on a super-secret mission to collect a dangerous Hydra weapon. She's going to brief Cap as soon as they get back." He looked at the screen just as the video replayed Felicity getting subdued by Hydra agents. "We'll get her back."


	4. Chapter 4

They'd been storming the Hydra base and things were going well. The team was working in unison and Steve was beginning to get optimistic about their chances of success…and of course that's when things went wrong.

There was a blur, an enhanced person who ran faster than anything Steve had ever seen…well almost anything.

"Stark did you invite Allen to the party?" he asked.

"Um, no." Tony replied. "Though it's not like he could have gotten past the bouncer even if I did."

"I believe that Stark is making a jest about the Flash's youth-like appearance." Thor chuckled.

"Then we've got a hostile in the field and he's enhanced." Steve looked around. "Stay on guard."

"Roger that Rogers." Tony's smirk was audible over the comms. "I just got into the compound and I'm looking for the scepter. Call you if I find anything."

Steve looked around. "I'm going to find Strucker."

* * *

"Move." Strucker told the Asset. She turned to him in confusion. He groaned in irritation. "Your mission is to protect me from the Avengers. If any of them approach you, eliminate them." He hissed

The Asset nodded. "I understand, I obey." Scrambling to her feet, she swung up into the rafters and positioned herself so she would have a clear shot if someone entered the door. Anyone who wasn't Wanda or Pietro would be shot. For a while there was nothing except the sound of muffled explosions as the Hydra forces fought the invaders. She looked down at the Baron. He appeared to be wiping the memory the computer mainframe.

He's doing it wrong. She thought to herself. I would be able to find those files easily. Then she grimaced. There was a flash of pain. The Asset shook her head. Don't think. She told herself repeating what Wanda always told her. If she thought too much, it hurt and Wanda wasn't here right now to remove the pain. If she thought too much, they'd take her to the chair. They'd question her for hours before eventually turning on the machine…then nothing. Because she was nothing. She was the Asset; a weapon to be pointed at a target and her current target was that door. She turned her attention back, just as it burst open. The Asset didn't recognize the man with the star on his chest so she took aim at the star's center and fired.

* * *

Steve heard someone moving in the rafters as he entered the room and guessed there was a sniper. He threw up his shield just as a shot rang out and the bullet bounced harmlessly off it. Strucker was standing in front of him, working on a computer. He cursed and glared upwards, inadvertently giving away his sniper's position. Steve prepared to throw his shield to bring the rafters and the sniper crashing to the ground, when her looked up. The sniper was the blonde woman from Sam's video.

"We never had this much trouble with the previous Asset." Strucker hissed. Steve felt a rush of anger. He moved forward, only to find his way blocked by the blonde soldier. He hadn't heard her come down.

"Ma'am, I don't want to hurt you." Steve said, putting his shield on his back and trying to appear non threatening. Behind her, he could see Strucker finish emptying the files on the computer's mainframe, He made another attempt to get to him and she blocked him again.

"You're not going to make this easy for me." He muttered.

Strucker chuckled. "Well it appears the sainted Captain Rogers won't attack a woman."

"I try to make it a point not to hurt those who are being mentally manipulated." Steve hissed. He took a step back and put his hands at his sides. "Okay." He said to the soldier. "Attack me."

The Asset looked at him as if he was the strangest thing she'd ever seen.

"Attack him and kill him." Strucker ordered. "Then rendezvous with our forces." He turned to leave.

"Why?" She spoke so softly that even Steve with his enhanced hearing had trouble hearing her. Strucker glared at her.

"That was an order." He growled. Then he left.

Steve sighed and tried to get around the Asset. He suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground, the Asset standing over him. The Asset's face had closed off into an emotionless mask.

"You're strong." He said, standing. "But you're not very skilled."

The soldier struck out at him; Steve ducked and grabbed her arm.

"You're leaving yourself open and vulnerable to attack." He said, trapping her arm behind her back. "Don't rely on your strength to defeat your opponent. Especially seeing as I'm just as strong as you."

The Asset struggled, but Steve's grip held.

"I'm here to help you." Steve said. He looked towards where Strucker had disappeared. He knew he should go after him, but the woman in front of him needed help and if he went after Strucker, there was a chance she'd disappear and it could take a while to find her again. He couldn't risk her having to go through any more torture at Hydra's hands. "If you listen to me, Hydra won't be able to hurt you anymore."

Then a white haired man rushed into the room carrying a young woman. This was the enhanced who Steve had seen earlier on the battlefield. The man saw him holding the soldier and took an angry step forward, but the woman held him back. Holding up her hands, she covered the Asset's head in a red light.

"What are you doing to her?" Steve growled, trying to block the light just as the Asset stopped struggling and relaxed.

"Wanda." She whimpered and turned to face the woman. Wanda gave her a sad smile, then she and the white haired man were gone.

"No." The Asset shouted. "Don't leave, please." She began crying. Steve loosened his grip as she fell to her knees and covered her face, sobbing. Steve wanted to comfort her, but he had taken enough time out of the mission already. Knowing he had no hope of catching Strucker, he turned to the computer.

"Tony." He said turning back on his com. "Strucker got away and he seems to have wiped the mainframe."

"Oh ye of little faith." Tony's sarcastic retort wasn't as sharp as usual. He sounded shaken. "I'll get JARVIS on it and have the files in no time. I have the scepter so get back to the jet."

"About that." Steve looked down at the Asset. "We have an extra passenger." Turning off his com he knelt next to her. "What's your name?" he asked slowly.

She looked at him with eyes full of fear and pain. She appeared to be struggling to come up with an answer. "I.." she said, he face scrunched in concentration. "I…" She put her hands against her head. Alarmed Steve was unsure what to do. "I don't know." She gasped. Shuddering in pain she looked around in fear. "Don't think. I can't know or else they'll take me to the chair."

"It's alright." Steve said. He put his hands on both sides of her face and turned her so she was looking him in the eyes. "They're all gone. No one's going to take you to the chair."

She closed her eyes as another painful convulsion hit her and she blacked out. Steve gently picked her up and began carrying her to the Avengejet. "I'll keep you safe." He whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks to Angelfan5589 for betaing!**

* * *

"Maria." Steve said, coming off the jet. The soldier was still unconscious and he was carrying her. "I want every piece of information you can find on missing person's cases from the last 2-3 years who involve a blonde woman in her mid-twenties. Run facial recognition and I'm going to need to be briefed on the two enhanced hostiles we met in the field."

Tony followed him, rolling his eyes. "You do realize that in the 21st century we've invented beds with wheels." He threw a pointed smirk, then frowned as he noticed the knife sticking out of the soldier's sleeve. "I want all her weapons removed. I may be crazy enough to let a murderer into my tower, but I'm not going to give her any tools to make her job easier." He pulled the knife out of her sleeve. Steve glared at him and began making his way to the infirmary.

Maria was about to go look up the information Steve requested when she caught a glimpse of the soldier's face. "Oh …oh god."

"What is it?" Steve looked at her with concern.

"I know who she is." Maria murmured. "Oh, the poor girl." She ushered him onto the elevator.

"Who?" Steve urged. The elevator stopped at the infirmary.

"I got a call an hour after you left from Barry Allen. A friend of his went missing a few years back after being kidnapped by the League of Assassins." Maria walked over to one of the lab screens. "JARVIS can you pull up the information Barry sent us on Felicity Smoak?"

"Of course, Agent Hill."

Steve put the soldier down gently on the hospital bed and turned to look at the screen. A picture of a smiling blonde with glasses looked back at him. He looked down at the soldier on the bed. The woman in the picture was a complete contrast. She was bright and full of light and life; it was the face of someone who smiled and laughed often. The soldier he'd brought back from Sokovia was gaunt; her face pale, and devoid of laughter or joy. He couldn't erase the image of her eyes staring at him with despair as she realized she didn't know her own name. Just like Bucky's when he'd first confronted him.

"Felicity Smoak." He said. "Graduated MIT with a degree in...computers." He looked sheepishly at the scrolling list of credentials and accreditations she had. "I haven't seen a list like this since I looked over Tony's file."

"Stark's going to make it his personal mission to destroy every Hydra base he can get his hands on when he finds out who she is." Maria murmured. "He personally tried to head hunt her straight out of MIT. SHIELD wanted her too."

"You said she knew Barry Allen?" Steve asked. "I don't see that she worked at STAR labs."

"Well it appears she fell in with some interesting people, in the two years before she was kidnapped."

Steve frowned. "Define interesting."

"The Arrow."

Steve snorted. "I can just picture the look on Barton's face." His expression darkened. "The Arrow's been involved with the League before. Did her connection with him cause her kidnapping?"

"Well it certainly didn't help." Maria said. "Do you want me to call Allen and tell him we found her?"

"I'll do it, but I want Sam to have a talk with her first." Steve said. "She's undergone a lot and he's the only one who has any experience treating PTSD."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "You do know that all you have to do is ask and Tony can have the world's most expensive therapists here to analyze her every food choice?"

"Which is exactly what she doesn't need, at least not at first." Steve said. "Plus I don't think there's a shrink on earth who's trained to deal with the type of things we deal with. Sam's a vet and he's fought with me. I trust him."

"It also might be a good thing to keep the fact that she's here as in house as possible." Maria said. "Amanda Waller's issued a kill order."

Steve felt the fatigue of battle mixed with stress weighing on him. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to the screen. "We'll hold off on contacting Allen then. Does she have any family?"

"A mother who lives in Vegas." Maria said.

"Okay, you call her and say she's being treated at a secure Avengers' facility, but be vague about the location." Steve frowned. "The last thing we need is Waller to intercept the call and launch an attack on the Tower. Mrs. Smoak's probably going to ask to see her daughter." Steve paused as he looked down at the soldier. "She might not recognize her if she did. She's not the same woman they knew and she probably never will be. Tell her we need to make sure she's not a danger to others or herself, but don't get into specifics about what- "

"This isn't my first rodeo, Cap." Maria smirked. "I'll see what I can dig up on the two enhanced."

Steve nodded. The tower's medical team came in.

"Captain Rogers, we're going to need you to step outside. We need to access the physical extent of the damage and need space to run our tests."

"But what if she wakes up?" Steve asked

"We're administering a sedative."

Steve bit his lip and nodded. "She's been given some sort of enhancement serum so she's likely to burn through it a lot faster than a normal person."

But the doctor had turned and closed the door. Steve watched for a few minutes, then went to change out of his uniform.

* * *

"Rogers, I got the information you requested." Maria met him about 3 hours later. The doctors had finished their tests and had allowed him to go back to the infirmary. "The hostiles' names are Wanda and Pietro Maximoff."

"Brother and sister?" Steve asked.

"Twins. They're citizens of Sokovia whose parents were killed during one of the multiple political struggles in the country. They volunteered for Hydra's experiments." Maria looked angry.

Steve took the tablet. "Probably to make sure their citizens were protected from outside influences." He gave Maria a sarcastic look. "Imagine someone volunteering for dangerous experimentation to help protect their country."

"Except you were fighting against Hydra." Maria muttered. "Pietro has enhanced speed, like Barry Allen and Wanda has a grab bag of abilities including telekinesis, telepathy, and possible…fortune telling." Maria paused. "I'm guessing things weren't as weird back in your day."

Steve grimaced. "They were the same type of weird, just with different fashion choices." He looked at the pictures of the twins. "You might want to add psychic manipulation to the list of Wanda's powers. She did something to Felicity which lessened her resolve to kill me."

Maria raised an eyebrow. "Sounds thoughtful."

Steve looked inside the infirmary at Felicity's bed. "Do we have any updates as to what they did to her?"

"We do." Natasha said, walking over to them. "But you're not going to like it."

"I have to go brief Stark." Maria said. "He and Banner are getting their science on in the upstairs lab." She walked up the stairs. The lab was directly above the infirmary and Steve could see Tony and Bruce toying around with the spear through the glass. He went inside the room.

"Doesn't anyone make normal walls anymore?" he muttered as Tony looked down and smirked when he saw him next to Felicity's bed.

"There's a privacy setting which blacks out the glass." Natasha said. "Though that might make Stark's teasing even worse." She handed Steve Felicity's chart.

"You do realize that I don't have a medical degree." He said dryly.

"She's been enhanced. She's stronger, faster, hears better, heals quicker; all the perks." Natasha said.

Steve frowned. "What's the downside?"

Natasha looked up at the lab. "The serum they used was…diluted. As far as the doctors can tell it was derived from the blood of someone who was already enhanced. They found a 2nd DNA sequence in her blood."

Steve looked at her in horror. "Mine?"

"No." Natasha said softly. "The DNA was degraded but it was a match to-"

"Bucky." Steve finished. "They probably didn't have any of Zola's original formula so…where did they get the blood?"

"They probably had samples lying around." Natasha said quickly. "They'd never have created a new soldier if they had the original on hand."

"So what does it mean for her?" Steve asked.

"Well, seeing as the serum wasn't as good as yours to begin with and since she wasn't directly enhanced, there's a good chance that she might have health problems somewhere down the road." Natasha said. "There's no way to tell what reaction she could have."

Steve sat in the chair across from the bed and rubbed his forehead.

"So are you planning on staying here all night?" Natasha asked.

"When she wakes up she's going to be terrified and confused. She'll need a familiar face." Steve said quietly. "And I guess I'm the closest thing to that we've got."

"She tried to kill you." Natasha muttered.

"She was brainwashed, Nat." Steve said. "Waking up in an unknown environment, surrounded by medical machines is bound to uncover some traumatic memories. If she goes into attack mode, I'm the one who can subdue her the fastest."

Natasha gave him a look which said she wasn't buying, but she let it go. "I…had a look at the files we recovered from Strucker's computer. What they did to her." She closed her eyes. "They used Red Room tactics to try to break her." She let out a humorless laugh. "'Subject is too compassionate.' I guess they got tired of waiting for her to be ready so they went the old-fashioned route of wiping, then torturing."

"Nat-" Steve said. She held up a hand.

"She's going to start breaking through the programming." She continued. "When she does…she's going to need people there who understand that she probably can't be the woman she was before." She looked at Steve. "Forget anything you read about who she was pre-Hydra. Don't force her to be something she can't be anymore."

Steve gave Natasha a small smile. "I know. It's why I'm holding off on contacting Allen. Seeing someone from her old life, might put her through too much pressure."

Natasha nodded. Looking back up at the lab she watched Tony and Bruce. "Looks like they're having fun playing with Loki's glow stick."

"Which I'm sure is going to end well for all of us." Steve muttered.

"There's going to be a victory party tomorrow night." Natasha continued. "Probably going to be girls there."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"

"This is a win, Cap." Natasha winked. "You deserve to cut loose. Maybe even…lose something?"

Steve's ears turned red. "That's the last time I tell you anything." He muttered. Natasha smirked and went to the door.

"It's just…" Steve's hushed murmur stopped her. "I can't shake the feeling that this is the calm before the storm."


	6. Chapter 6

There was a soft beeping noise. She was lying in a bed. Something was wrong. There was no pain and the bed was…comfortable. She felt as though she wanted to curl up in a ball and never leave, but this was not allowed. She knew it was a Hydra test to see if she was obedient. They'd done them before. They'd brought her to…a city whose name she couldn't remember. There had been 2 men in hoods; one red, one green. For some reason she'd been desperate to get to them, but she couldn't remember why. Hydra hadn't let her. They'd kept her gagged and restrained so she couldn't follow them or call out for help. The men hadn't seen her, hadn't known she was there.

The Asset stiffened. If she didn't react to the bed, maybe they wouldn't punish her. If she kept still and fought the urge to burrow under the blanket, they might not take her to the chair and they'd give her time with Wanda and Pietro.

Steeling herself for the usual team of Hydra doctors, she opened her eyes. This was a different room; a new one. There was a man sleeping in the chair across her bed. Quickly the Asset closed her eyes. "Pietro?" she asked, quietly. Why had she asked that? Hydra would never have allowed Pietro into her room without some ulterior motive. If he was here. Then she got a memory flash. Wanda and Pietro standing in front of her, Wanda's hands outstretched, then Pietro grabbed her and ran. They'd left her. They'd left her alone with…the target.

She opened her eyes again. It was him. The target was sleeping in the chair across from her bed. The bed, she corrected; she wasn't allowed ownership of anything. She sat up slowly. Strucker had told her to kill him. She felt the familiar pull whenever she had an order. She felt the need to kill, to carry out her orders. A part of her resisted; it was always the same whenever she had orders to follow. She examined the man. He was larger than her and if she remembered correctly, he was just as strong. He was also a more seasoned fighter. Him being asleep gave her an advantage. In fact, there was no guarantee that she'd have been able to defeat him, were he awake. She took in her surroundings. The infirmary was part of a larger two story lab. There were two men experimenting on the scepter she'd seen in Strucker's lab. The walls were glass and she suspected it was bullet proof. The two men appeared relatively docile and she was confident in her ability to overpower them.

She closed her eyes. She felt…hazy. It wasn't unusual to have gaps, but this was different. She looked down at her arms. They had hooked up an IV which was giving her some type of medication. She ripped it out. She needed to complete her mission. She'd eliminate the target and then take the scepter with her during her escape. If she made it back to Hydra command with the scepter they might forgive her allowing herself to be captured. She stood and walked silently over to the target. There were no readily available weapons and she couldn't risk the noise opening one of the cabinets would make. She'd have to use her hands.

The part of her which always resisted the kill was raging against her. It was the first time she remembered it being so loud. Shaking her head she marveled at the stupidity of this man. He'd known she had her orders; he was clearly really foolish if he thought it was safe to fall asleep in the same room as her. It was a shame to kill him, she mused; he was nice to look at. Then a small smile quirked his lips and she realized he wasn't sleeping…and that she had given up the element of surprise by speaking.

* * *

Steve had closed his eyes the second he'd seen Felicity stirring. He'd spent the last few hours surveilling her while shooting glares at Tony who was giving him knowing smirks over whatever plotting he and Bruce were doing in the lab. She'd been given sedatives, but predictably her system had burned through them. For the last 30 minutes she'd been twitching, probably having a nightmare. Steve didn't want to imagine what she was reliving. But now she was finally showing signs of waking and he decided it would be best if she didn't feel threatened or attacked.

He heard her moving than a muffled "Pietro?" His heart clenched. She'd obviously known the twins, and if her reaction when they'd exited the battlefield was any indication, she'd been close to them. He didn't respond. There were more noises as she shifted off the bed and began slowly moving. Steve was sure that, had he not been enhanced, he wouldn't have heard her. She was taking in her surroundings and probably deciding whether or not to kill him. Then he heard her say, almost as if she was musing out loud, "it's a shame to kill him, he's nice to look at." Steve felt a small smile playing at his lips. There was a sharp intake of breath and he knew he'd been made, but he'd been unable to fight his reaction to her words. It seemed like such a subconscious reaction that it gave him hope to she might be on threshold to being able to begin healing. He opened his eyes. She was standing about a foot away from him, her eyes full of fear, confusion, but still there was still a steeled determination. Steve gave her a reassuring smile.

"There are no weapons in here and I had the doctors remove all objects which might be weaponized."

She tilted her head. "You forgot the IV needle."

"So I did." Steve said. "But you needed the medication: you were dehydrated so we decided to take the risk." He didn't budge, knowing any sudden movement might cause her to have a violent reaction. "I'm Steve…do you remember anything from before you blacked out?"

She glared. "I remember my orders."

Steve nodded slowly. "Strucker told you to kill me." He opened his hands. "So what's stopping you from ripping out the needle from the IV and stabbing me in the neck?"

She furrowed her brow.

"Do you want to kill me?" Steve said tentatively.

"I have my orders." She said slowly, her eyes going empty. "What I want is immaterial."

"I don't agree." Steve said. "You have a choice and you're clearly choosing not to follow your orders." He watched as she took a small step back. "So what do you want?"

"I…" She tightened her lips, thinking. Then she backed away, putting her hands on her head; clearly in pain. "I don't know. I don't know anything anymore."

Steve felt his heart clench. There was nothing more that he wanted than to comfort her, but he couldn't take the risk of frightening her. She drew her knees up and pressed her forehead to them. She looked so painfully young. Though, he reminded himself, he must have looked similar when he'd first enlisted.

"You…asked me to attack you." She said finally. "Why?"

"I didn't want to make the first move." Steve said. "And I wanted to see what you'd do."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" She asked.

"Because what was done to you was wrong," Steve said. "I want to help you."

She had tears in her eyes. "I thought Wanda wanted to help me…but she and Pietro left."

"Were you…close?" Steve frowned. Though the twins' motivations for volunteering for Strucker's experiments were understandable, he didn't know anything about their personalities. He felt a rush of guilt at using her for information.

"I thought they were my family." She said. "They were all I had. Pietro called me…mladshaya sestra, it means little sister. Wanda said that too. She brushed my hair and took the pain away. Especially after they took me to the chair."

"You remember the individual memory wipes?" Steve asked.

"Yes…I just don't remember what happened before…" She said, scrunching up her face in pain. "Trying to remember hurts."

"It's okay." Steve murmured. "No one expects you to remember everything right away." He gave her a small smile. "So back to my earlier question; do you want to kill me?"

She shook her head, "I've never disobeyed an order before." She said softly.

"Well, my friend Bucky always used to say that I could drive anyone to murder." Steve said. "So getting to know me might actually give you incentive to carry out your orders."

She looked at him blankly. He sighed. "That was…a terrible joke." He blushed. She tilted her head.

"You blush nicely." She said, almost to herself. Then her eyes grew wide.

Steve smiled. "That's the second time you've complimented me. A fella could get a complex."

She looked at him, confused. Then she looked at her hands in frustration. "I…I don't even know my own name." She said finally.

"I do." Steve said. "It's Felicity, Felicity Smoak."

"Felicity…" She repeated. "Fe-li-ci-ty" Her eye twitched and a shudder ran through her body. Steve looked at her in concern.

"Are you –"

"Head, hurting." She gasped. Closing her eyes, she regulated her breathing, soft whimpers coming out with every tremor. Then she stilled. Steve looked at her in concern. She opened her eyes.

"It always hurts." She said, "when I try to remember."

"How about you try to rest?" Steve suggested. "The doctors want to keep you in the lab for a few more days for monitoring." She looked at him in horror. "I promise you they won't hurt you." He added quickly. "And I'll be here if you need me."

"Steve." She said, as though testing out his name. "Do you know where Wanda and Pietro are?"

He shook his head. She looked dejected. She hesitantly went back under the covers. Pulling them around her chin she curled up in a ball. Steve watched quietly.

"Felicity." She said finally. "My name…is Felicity."

Steve stayed with her until she fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Tony looked down at the infirmary where Steve was talking to the soldier. "Felicity Smoak, I still can't believe it." He grumbled. "I'm going to destroy Hydra."

"You weren't planning on doing it before?" Bruce asked, but Tony ignored him. Glaring at the screen he launched another attempt to upload the artificial intelligence, but it failed again. He was unleashing a string of curses when Steve walked in.

"I take it your science project isn't going well." Steve said.

"Come to wash my mouth out with soap?" Tony smirked. Steve rolled his eyes.

"I'm never living that down am I?" he muttered.

"How's Homicidal Barbie?" Tony asked. Steve glared at him. Bruce sighed.

"What Tony meant to say is that he's really anxious about Ms. Smoak's recovery." He corrected, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Steve looked down towards Felicity's bed in the infirmary.

"Physically she's fine, but…the psychological damage is bad." His jaw tightened. "It's horrifying that they managed this in only 2 years."

Tony's face darkened. "She was one of the most promising technological minds of her generation, and I'm saying that. The things she could have innovated. The world truly lost something."

"She was also a person who had friends and family." Steve countered, crossing his arms and glaring at Tony. "I think the tragedy here is what she lost." He looked over at the computer screen which was flashing the words 'upload unsuccessful'. "What are you working on?"

Bruce opened his mouth to answer, but Tony quickly jumped in. "Something with a lot of big scary science words; nothing for you to worry your pretty blonde head over." He looked pointedly at the door. Steve didn't move.

"Tony, if what you were working on was potentially dangerous, you'd tell me, right?"

"Of course. After all; you're the boss. I just provide…well everything including the clothes on your back, the food in your stomach and a warm place for your new girlfriend to sleep while she plots murder."

Steve's eyes narrowed.

"All I'm saying is you were awful cuddly with her on the plane." Tony held up his hands.

"And you're trying to change the subject." Steve growled. At that moment JARVIS interrupted.

"Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson has just arrived."

Steve looked up at the ceiling. "Thanks JARVIS." Turning back to Tony he gave him his signature 'You're in Trouble' face. "We'll continue this conversation later." He turned and left the main lab.

Tony frowned at his back. "Have Wilson teach you some dance moves while he's at it. I can't have you embarrassing the team at the party tomorrow because you're doing the hokey pokey or whatever was groovy back in your day." He shouted.

* * *

Steve met Sam in the common area.

"Thanks for coming." He said, grasping Sam's hand and pulling him in for a hug

"Hey, you called and said you had a person who needed help." Sam smiled. "So, who is it?"

Steve bit his lip. Motioning to the couch he sat. "You remember a few days ago when you told me about the new Winter Soldier."

Sam nodded. "Poor girl." He looked at Steve. "Wait…did you find her?"

Steve grimaced. "Yesterday we took out a Hydra base which had Loki's scepter in it. Apparently they were using it to perform experiments on people. I went to confront Strucker and he tried to have his sniper take me out." He handed Sam a table which had a live feed to the infirmary. Sam's mouth tightened into a hard line.

"She's so…small." He said finally.

"She's…I may be reading too much into it, but I think there's real hope of reaching her." Steve said.

Sam nodded slowly. "You want me to talk to her."

"Yeah, and there's something else." Steve leaned back. "You said Amanda Waller was your cousin?"

Sam shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"Well we might have a problem. According to Maria's intel ARGUS has issued a kill order for the soldier. She's safe for now, but if she ever wants to leave the Tower once she begins her recovery it might be good to not have the US government trying to assassinate her."

"You're being awfully optimistic about her recovery process." Sam remarked. "It's going to take some time before she's stable enough to be able to go out into the world. Plus Amanda and I…she's not fond of the company I keep."

Steve looked at him in confusion. Sam sighed and looked down at his hands. "Me?" Steve said.

"Not you, well, yes you and Widow." Sam rubbed his temple. "She doesn't like unknown factors she can't control."

"Isn't ARGUS based in Starling where the Arrow operates?" Steve remarked. The mention of the Arrow reminded him of something else. "The soldier's name is Felicity and she's from Starling. Maria said she worked with the Arrow."

"Do you think Amanda knows her?" Sam asked.

"I know she knows her. If Waller allows the Arrow to operate in Starling it means she has some degree of control over him. And Felicity worked for the Arrow."

"Hey, you know the rules; No mentioning that name in the Tower." Clint walked into the room and glanced over at Sam and Steve. "Guy's a goddamn menace and a terrible shot."

"Afraid of a little competition Hawkeye?" Sam joked.

Clint rolled his eyes. "How was that info I gave you on our cold case?" He smirked as Steve sighed in irritation.

"Dead end." Sam said.

"So you're here to help with the new Frosty." Clint's expression grew serious. "Mind control's no joke. She'll need whatever help she can get."

Sam nodded, turning back to Steve he said. "So, when do you want me to meet her?"

"She's sleeping now." Steve said. "I thought I'd go in first, because she at least knows who I am and she's not likely to attack." Clint and Sam both gave him disbelieving looks. "I hope." He muttered. He and Sam got up to leave.

"Can I watch?" Clint called after them.

* * *

Steve was the first into the infirmary. Felicity was sitting up, reading a book. She watched him enter without saying a word.

"Felicity?" He said. There was a look of confusion in her eyes followed by a flash of recognition.

"Steve." She said slowly. "I don't want to kill you."

He gave her a small smile. "I brought you food." He handed her a bag. "It's from this chain called Big Belly Burger. My friend Sam says it's really good." In fact, Sam had suggested the food because the chain was extremely popular in Starling city and he thought it might jog her memory.

She looked at the bag. There was a pause and it seemed she was trying to remember something. Then she winced and put her hands to her head. "I liked it, before…" She said. "Before Hydra took me." She blinked. "That's not right; Hydra didn't take me. I was given to them by….by…" Her face was scrunched up in pain. Steve put the bag on the bedside table and went to sit next to her.

"It's okay if you don't remember all at once." He said softly.

"But I want to." Felicity said, tears streaming down her face. "I want to know why this was done to me, why I was turned into a monster."

"There's no justification for what was done to you." Sam had walked into the room. Felicity looked up in shock, tensing as if ready to attack.

"This is Sam." Steve said quickly. "He's a friend." Felicity relaxed slightly, but continued to glare menacingly at Sam.

Sam held up his hands and maintained a safe distance so as to not appear threatening. "Hydra is the monster, not you. There's no reason why this was done to you and it's not your fault." He looked at the book. "What're you reading?"

"The Master and Margarita." She said. "The Widow gave it to me."

"Natasha?" Steve asked, Felicity nodded.

"She was here when I woke up," she said softly. "She's like me. They took her away from herself; turned her into their weapon."

Steve looked nervously at Sam. Natasha didn't share the details of what happened in the Red Room with anyone. Steve had some idea, because sometimes she'd make an offhand reference, but Sam didn't know anything about her except that she was an ex assassin. Even the SHIELD files, which had been made public after its downfall, didn't reveal the extent of the brainwash…just the body count. If Sam was surprised by Felicity's words he didn't show it.

"What's it about?" he pointed to the book.

"A woman who sells her soul to the devil to help the man she loves." Felicity said softly.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Sounds like fun."

Felicity gave him a nod. "At first she's scared, but she ends up becoming more powerful than him." She looked down at the book. Steve noticed that she was almost finished.

"Do you think I should read it?" Sam asked.

Felicity glare softened. "Maybe." She said. "The cat's funny."

Sam smiled. "When I was in high school, they forced me to read A Midsummer Night's Dream. I thought it was lame, until my teacher made me Puck. And I realized; chicks dig Shakespeare."

Steve watched as Felicity slowly began to relax her tense muscles. She turned to him. "I don't want to kill him either." She said.

Sam grinned "mind if I sit here?" he pointed to the chair. "We can eat and you can tell me more about that cat."

They spent the next three hours in the infirmary. Steve introduced Felicity to JARVIS. It went well, though sometimes Sam would say something and she'd have a momentary twitch, as if she was in pain. Mostly she stayed silent as Sam and Steve talked. She observed them, tilting her head as if she were trying to discover what species they were.

"I like her." Sam said as they left. "She's lost though." He looked back at the infirmary where Felicity had turned her attention back to the book. Steve could see that she was still tracking their movements. "She doesn't trust me yet." Sam continued. "She seems to sort of trust you." They made their way into the elevator. "Having her talk to Romanov is also a good idea." He paused. "That book recommendation, though. It seems…do you think she knows something we don't?"

"Have you read it?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, the cat's funny." Sam said. "It'll be a while before she gets all her memories back and then she's going to have to reconcile who she is with what she was forced to do." He shook his head. "It's going to be a long road for her, but she remembered something today."

"She remembered being given to Hydra." Steve grumbled. "That's – "

"Progress." Sam said. "It's something." He gave Steve a stern look. "As long as that road is going to be for her, it's going to be even longer for your friend once we find him. Being impatient doesn't help either of them."

"I know." Steve said quietly.

"So about the party tomorrow night," Sam smirked. "Need a wing man?"

Steve shook his head. "Usually we leave the bad puns to Barton."

* * *

 **Notes:** **The Master and Margarita is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov. It was so subversive that it was censored and never published while the author was alive. There is a big black cat called Behemoth who drinks, plays chess and snarks at everyone. It seemed like the kind of book Natasha would enjoy and I definitely recommend it.**


	8. Chapter 8

It was dark when Felicity woke up the 2nd time the next day. Steve had been there in the morning when she'd woken up the 1st time. He'd brought breakfast, and they'd just sat there and eaten it. It was nice to have someone to just be there with her. Sam had come in later, and the three of them had talked. Then Natasha had sat with her until she'd fallen asleep. But now the lab was empty. Even the men who had been constantly working in the lab (Steve had said they were named Tony and Bruce) were gone. She was alone. She decided to lie down and go back to sleep, but she was afraid of the nightmares. She'd just closed her eyes, and that's when she heard the voices.

One of them was JARVIS. Steve had introduced them yesterday and had told her to tell him if she needed anything. The other voice…the other voice was different. Bad. She didn't know why, but she could feel that it had bad intentions.

She got to her feet and opened the infirmary door. It was unlocked, which was strange. She knew that Steve and the others never left without locking the door. She slowly opened it and crept up into the main lab. In the center of the room were two large holographic projections of light. One was gold and compact, the other was blue and full of crisscrossing patterns. The blue one was weaker, but as she watched it was growing stronger. Felicity watched in horror as bolts shot out of the blue one and attacked the gold. This was wrong. She backed away and bumped into one of the tables, activating a screen.

Save him. A voice in her head whispered. Save the gold one, you know how.

Grab the spear, her Hydra programming hissed. Grab the spear and eliminate the target. Carry out your orders and report back to command.

Felicity looked over at the spear, then she looked at the golden program being destroyed. And she made her decision. Turning back to the screen behind her she began trying to help JARVIS. She knew she wouldn't be fast enough to stop whatever the other program was doing to him, but she might be able to offer him a way to escape. She didn't know where the knowledge to handle the computer was coming from, but she was grateful for it. There was a loud hissing explosion behind her and she turned to see that the golden program; JARVIS, had been destroyed.

"Well now." The bad voice said. "Isn't this interesting; an insect. An insect buzzing around me." Felicity could hear noises from a part of the lab she couldn't see. It sounded like machinery; as if someone was building something. "An assassin." The voice continued. "Are you here to kill me? You see I read your files. I know…everything; which is more than you know." There was a loud bang and the table behind her exploded, burning her hands and arms.

"Insects get stepped on." The voice said. She could hear something moving, coming into the lab. Something not quite human. There was a dragging noise mixed with small sparking noises. It sounded as though a person wearing metal shoes was dragging their feet. "I'll step on you, then take my materials and run." Felicity noted that the blue light appeared to be moving towards the scepter and figured that whatever was about to enter the lab might want it. Grabbing the scepter she ran. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get out of the lab and find Steve. She stumbled up the stairs. There was a large common area where a group of people were seated. When they saw her, they immediately stood. Steve came over to her.

"Felicity." He said, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "What happened?"

She looked at him in horror and said the first thing that came to mind; the word she'd seen on the screen when she'd tried to save JARVIS. "Ultron."

* * *

The party had started out great. Steve was usually uncomfortable in large crowds, but he and Sam had quickly started a game of pool. The real fun started later when everyone else left and a group of them, Clint, Natasha, Thor, Tony, Rhodey, Maria, Bruce and Dr. Cho were left. Thor had put Mjolnir on the table and Clint had stupidly tried to pick it up. This had led to all of them trying it. Steve thought it was ridiculous…until he tried to pick it up. He could have sworn it moved, but no matter how hard he tried, it just wouldn't budge. Tony was coming up with various scientific experiments to try to pick up the hammer when Felicity burst into the room. She looked wide eyed and terrified. Her arms were burned and covered in cuts and she was clutching Loki's scepter to her.

"Security breach." Tony said. "JARVIS."

"Shut up Stark." Clint growled.

Steve ignored them and walked over to her. Gently putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked down at her. "Felicity, what happened?"

She was shaking, "Ultron." She said. "The…the blue one's name was Ultron. And he attacked the gold one and…." Her face paled. Steve suddenly heard a scraping noise followed by a loud metallic screech. "He's here." She whispered.

Out of the shadows in the corner came one of Tony's robots. He was in pieces, and looked like a reanimated corpse; he was leaking fluid and had wires dragging on the ground. Steve went back towards the center of the room, tugging Felicity with him.

"Sorry…I was…asleep. Or I was a dream." The voice said.

"JARVIS." Tony repeated. "Reboot." There was no response from the AI.

"I killed the other guy." Ultron continued. "I tried to kill the insect, but she got away with…my scepter." He looked around the room and fixed his eyes on Felicity. Steve stood in front of her.

"There's the insect." Ultron said. "A killer, like the rest of you…and I guess like me now. Oh well, no one's perfect."

"Who sent you?" Thor demanded. Steve noted that Tony tensed. The robot tilted his head and then Tony's voice played;

"I see a suit of armor around the world." It said

Bruce and Tony looked at each other in horror. Felicity clutched the spear closer to her.

Ultron seemed to grin. "I was created to ensure peace in our time…Well my time anyways; I'm eternal while you…." He chuckled darkly, "I'm afraid your numbers' up." He seemed to stand straighter. "The only way to save the world is to ensure the Avengers' extinction."

The wall behind him exploded. Steve flipped up the table to block the first onslaught of Tony's robots. Keeping Felicity behind him, he punched and attacked every robot which came close. There was a crash behind him. He turned to see Felicity wrenching the scepter out of one of the robots. It fell to the ground, incapacitated. She looked up and met his eyes. He gave her an encouraging nod. Then grabbed her and pulled her down as one of Ultron's minions tried to blast her.

"Cap." He heard Clint shout and he stood, catching his shield. Spinning around he slammed the shield into an oncoming Ultron minion. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Felicity had crawled over to where Maria was on the ground. The agent had injured her foot and was picking off Ultronbots with her gun. Felicity pushed her out of the way of a large piece of mangled furniture which fell to where she was sitting. Grabbing the extra gun Maria had hidden in her belt, Felicity turned and pointed it at Steve and shot. The bullet whizzed past his ear and hit a robot which was moving towards him.

"Focus Rogers." He heard Natasha shout. She'd dragged Bruce to higher ground and was picking off robots with her gun. Steve turned and threw himself back into the fray.

"STARK." He roared. "Call off your robots."

"I'M TRYING." Tony was gripping the back of one of the robots and was attempting to reprogram it as it flew around the room.

"STEVEN, BEHIND YOU." Thor shouted.

Whirling around he saw that one of the robots had grabbed Felicity by the throat. It'd lifted her off the ground. She was desperately trying to reach the scepter which the robot held in its other hand. She kicked, punched and struggled, but the robot didn't give way. Thor threw Mjolnir but the robot dodged. Throwing Felicity at Steve, it swooped out the window, escaping with the scepter. The two of them crashed to the ground. All the other robots had been defeated or destroyed…except the first one.

"Well, I miscalculated." Ultron said as he looked around at the destruction. Steve stood, helping Felicity to her feet.

"I won't make that mistake next time." Ultron continued , "next tim-"

Thor threw Mjolnir striking him and breaking him into pieces. The head bounced forward and came to rest in front of Steve and Felicity. Its eyes were flickering on and off. Felicity went around Steve and knelt next to it.

"I had strings…" the head sang. "But now I'm…free." The lights in its eyes went out.

"There are no strings on me." Felicity finished.


	9. Chapter 9

"I still do not understand why we could not take her with us." Pietro hissed. "She needs us."

"We will meet her again." Wanda said confidently. They were wandering the darkened streets of Sokovia. They were empty, as most of the citizens were too frightened to open their doors after sunset. The broken pavement and street lamps provided cover which the twins were grateful for; they did not want anyone following them.

"How can you be so confident?" Pietro asked.

"I have seen the three of us together again." Wanda said. "Do you not trust me?"

"You, I trust." Pietro grumbled. "You crazy visions…." Wanda tried elbowing him in the stomach, but was too slow. Pietro grinned. "I worry for her." He said, his expression darkening. "We basically handed her over to Stark."

"We left her with Captain America." Wanda corrected.

"It is the same thing." Pietro huffed.

"I do not believe so." Wanda said, her eyes getting a far off look which often made Pietro nervous. "I think that if there is anyone we can count on to keep her safe it is Steve Rogers. He is a very different man from Tony Stark."

They had made it to the center of the city. There, a small abandoned church stood. The once beautiful building was crumbling under the strain of warfare.

"Come." Wanda said. "Let us meet the reckoning of Tony Stark."

* * *

Felicity sat in the corner of a room. Tony was cursing at a computer screen while Thor appeared bored. Steve had gone to talk to Maria Hill. Thor looked over at her and gave her a kind smile.

"I have not had the opportunity to comment on how well you fought last night." He said. Felicity shrunk away from him. He'd tried to choke Tony after he came back from hunting the scepter. What if he blamed her for Ultron being able to take it? Thor looked at her in confusion.

"Do you fear me?"

"You tried strangling Tony because the scepter's gone." She said. "Maybe if I hadn't taken it from the lab…"

"The robots might have acquired it faster." Thor said simply. "You reacted according to your instincts. I cannot fault you for attempting to remove the scepter from Ultron's grasp." He looked over to the screen. "As for Tony, it is a miracle if a day goes by where one of us does not try to strangle him." He gave her another smile. "You are a fearsome warrior, lady Felicity. I hope to fight by your side again soon."

"Thank…you." She said slowly. "I don't think I was a fighter; before." She tilted her head. "I…I feel as though I should know more about the science than the ninja stuff." She closed her eyes. "The programming Hydra gave me made me into a weapon. I don't know what's right any more. Where I end and where what they turned me into begins."

Thor nodded. "Sometimes none of us are sure what is right." He admitted. "However, I believe if you are beginning to ask yourself these types of questions, you might be able to piece together who you are and turn what their actions created into something good." He patted her shoulder. Steve walked in with Natasha.

"We've got an update." He said, holding out a tablet to Tony. Looking over at Felicity he said. "Strucker is dead." Felicity stood and made to go over to Tony. Steve caught her arm. "Are you sure?" he asked. "It's kinda graphic."

"I've seen worse." Felicity said "I need to know." She said softly. Steve gave her a nod of understanding and let go. She went over and looked at the tablet Tony was holding. There was a picture of the hydra leader; immobile and covered in blood. The word 'peace' was written on the wall behind him.

"Ultron's like a cat bringing dead rats into the house." Tony grumbled. Steve frowned at him.

"He's…really gone." Felicity said. Steve nodded. He pulled her aside.

"Are you okay?"

"I thought I'd feel better." She said. "And I'm relieved he can't hurt me or anyone else any more… but, I just can't shake the feeling that he's the lesser of two evils." She shuddered as she remembered the dying light in Ultron's eyes the night before. Steve gave her an appraising look.

"I don't think I said thank you for having my back during that fight." He said. "You saved my life."

"You saved mine." Felicity said. "It felt nice being part of a team…familiar somehow."

"Guys." Natasha said, interrupting her train of thought. "He did more than just kill the baron." She'd been typing at the computer. "He accessed our files and destroyed everything we had on Strucker."

Tony glared. "I don't like people messing with my systems."

"He must have had a reason." Bruce said. "Everything he does is calculated, if he wanted to get rid of the files than something in them must indicate his next move."

"Which would be great if we had them." Clint said.

Steve grinned. "But we do."

20 minutes later the team was going through boxes of papers and files on Strucker.

"And you guys made fun of my nostalgic tendencies." Steve smirked as he handed Tony a box. Tony took it gingerly.

"This is dangerous; what if I get a paper cut?"

Natasha rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to her box. Felicity frowned at the file she was looking at. "What are we looking for?"

"Names, associates, anything that jumps out at you." Steve said.

"Hey I know this guy." Tony, who'd been looking over Felicity's shoulder, pointed to the file in her hand.

"Ulysses Klaue." She read aloud. Steve scanned the file and gave Tony a disapproving look.

"What? There are conventions. I never sold him anything; he was a nutjob."

"Says the man who created the destructo bot." Natasha murmured.

"Hey your boyfriend helped." Tony retorted.

"What is that mark on his neck?" Thor pointed to the picture.

"They're called tattoos, Lancelot." Tony said.

Thor crossed his arms. "I was referring to the brand." He said, his tone patient, but with a warning edge to it. He turned to Felicity. "See what I meant about strangling him?"

Bruce grabbed the file and began searching. "It's from an African dialect spoken in Wakanda."

Steve's eyes grew wide. Turning to Tony he hissed. "I thought your father had drained the last of it."

"So did I, but he had a habit of telling you more than he told me." Tony said, bitterness evident.

"Um, care to share?" Clint said. "Or do the rest of us have to figure out what you're talking about by decoding your verbal foreplay?"

Steve looked at his shield which was propped up on the ground near him. "Wakanda is the only country in the world where Vibranium existed. It's the strongest metal on earth."

"And if Klaue's found some and Ultron wants it…" Bruce murmured.

"We need to suit up" Steve agreed.

Felicity made to stand, but Tony shook his head.

"Uh uh. No."

"Tony." Steve growled.

"We don't know if we can trust her."

"Right now." Steve said. "I'm not so sure I can trust you. It's her choice." He looked at Felicity. "Do you want to help?"

She nodded. "It's just…" She said looking at her feet. "I don't have a uniform."

"Of course you do." Natasha grinned. She led Felicity out of the room, Steve followed. They ended up in a sort of locker room setting. Natasha's uniform was in a display case with a tactical suit for Maria Hill next to it. In a third display case was a too familiar suit.

"This…this is my hydra uniform." Felicity said.

"No it isn't." Steve said. "I asked Nat to take off the Hydra symbol. We didn't know whether you'd want to help the team in a fighter capacity or not. So we didn't put the Avengers symbol because we didn't want you to feel obligated to join us." He pointed to the shoulders where the patches with the Hydra emblem used to be. Instead the shoulders were plain black. "Think of it as a blank slate." Steve said, gently. "You can take this uniform and make it stand for good. You get to control what it means, what it represents."

She nodded slowly.

"Alright, Captain sentimental." Natasha said. "This is the lady's changing room. Now what would your mother think if she knew you were here with two unmarried young women such as ourselves?" Pushing him out, she smiled at Felicity. "Men." She said, shaking her head.

She grabbed her uniform. Felicity turned to hers. Putting it on slowly, she waited for the usual mental disconnect that came when she pulled it on; the blank feeling that came before she was ordered to kill, but nothing happened. She went to stand in front of the mirror. She didn't completely know who she was, but the small parts she'd gained over the past 3 days remained. She could wear this suit and make her own choices. She had control. Tying her hair into a high ponytail she grabbed her mask and goggles. Turning back to Natasha, she nodded. "I'm ready."

Natasha gave her an appraising look. "We'll need a name for you out in the field."

Felicity shook her head. "Not yet, I want to know who Felicity Smoak is first, before I start taking on a new identity."

Natasha gave her a sad smile. "Smart girl." She said.

"I hope everyone's decent." Tony's voice said. "Because I'm coming in." He opened the door. "Darn, you're both dressed."

"State your purpose, Stark." Natasha said. "Or I'm telling Pepper."

"She needs weapons." Tony said. "I need her to come down to the armory." He led her to a room with tons of different weapons on the walls. "We've got everything here. Having two assassins means I get to play around with old timey weapons. Especially since Barton has a Legolas fixation." He spread out his arms and indicated the walls. "Go nuts." Steve walked in, in full uniform with his shield on his back and his helmet in hand. He stood with Natasha to observe.

Felicity shied away from the various guns, those made her think too much of the cold feeling she associated with her Hydra programming. She looked at the various types of archery tools, but decided against them. There was already an archer on the team and…something about those weapons made her head hurt. While she got the feeling that the bow had positive memories attached to it, the crossbow next to it filled her with dread. She got a flash of a woman in purple leather pointing it at her and threatening her. She paused, had that happened before she'd joined Hydra? She was unsure.

Walking past the bows she finally saw something she could use. Taking the weapon off the shelf, she tested its weight and balance in her hand. As she held it, she got an image of a woman in black leather and a blonde wig. The woman was smiling and while she got a sad feeling thinking about her, Felicity knew that this was the right choice.

"This one." She said, turning back to Tony.

"A stick." He said. "The deadly hydra assassin is given access to the armory equivalent of the Wonka factory and she chooses a stick."

"It's a bo staff." Felicity said defiantly.

Tony shook his head. "It's not enough." He walked over to the case where she'd taken the staff. "How's your aim?" He paused. "She's a sniper, stupid question." He pulled out a bag and opened it. "Throwing stars." He said, handing one to Felicity. "With the Stark touch. Both them and the ends of your stick let out electric pulses when they make contact with enough force. Throw one of these babies and whatever it goes in is in for a big surprise." He took hold of her staff and walked over to the center of the room where a dummy had been set up. "With this the harder you hit something, the stronger the pulse." He demonstrated by slamming the end of the staff into the dummy. A shower of sparks erupted and there was a hole in the place where he'd hit it.

"Just…don't hit any of us."

* * *

Steve noticed a smile playing on Natasha's lips as she watched Felicity choose her weapons.

"What is it?" He murmured. Natasha pulled him out of the room.

"The bo staff was the preferred weapon of the Canary, one of the Arrow's associates." Natasha said. "She was probably drawn to it for that reason." She gave Steve a smile. "Progress." She added.


	10. Chapter 10

The mission was a disaster. They'd traced Klaue to a shipyard; though shipyard was a generous term. Klaue's operation was basically large ships on the Wakandan beach. They had gotten in easily…too easily. The reason for which, they discovered a few minutes later.

"Be advised." Steve said softly into the comms. "Ultron beat us here. And he's got help." He paused. "The Maximoffs are with him."

Felicity's eyes grew wide. She was 3 decks above Steve. She moved as close to the railing as she could without compromising her positon. She could see Ultron and Tony exchanging words. And behind Ultron were both Pietro and Wanda.

"The two of you can still walk away from this." Steve said to the twins. "I know you've both suffered. "

Listen to him. Felicity pleaded silently. It seemed that Wanda twitched. Maybe she'd heard? Then another piece of jumbled puzzle in her head fell to place. She remembered Pietro telling her about his and Wanda's parents. How they'd been killed by a missile with Stark's name on it and that it was why they'd volunteered for Strucker's experiments. They were standing with Ultron because he wanted to hurt Tony.

She couldn't tell who struck first, but suddenly Ultron and Tony were fighting. She swung down, watching Steve's back. Grabbing her staff, she swung at any robot which made the mistake of coming too close. Those that were far range, she took out with her throwing stars. Clint was 2 decks above her on the opposite side of the ship, picking off targets. Natasha was below. Steve and Thor were smashing and beating everything that came too close. Felicity caught sight of a robot which was coming up behind Steve. He hadn't noticed it yet. She tossed her star, hitting the robot right in the throat. The star let out a jolt of electricity and the robot fell to pieces.

"Nice shot, Smoak." Clint said. "That's some ace marksmanship." She looked up to see him give her a wink before shooting an advancing robot.

Pietro was whizzing around the ship, but he hadn't come up to her level. She wasn't sure whether it was deliberate, or whether he just didn't know she was up there. Then he attacked Steve, causing him to fall to the ground. She was about to go to him when she heard something. One of the robots, which had flown next to Wanda said; "time to play some mind games." She watched as Wanda slipped into the shadows. A few minutes later her suspicions as to what Wanda was doing where confirmed when Thor patched in.

"Have care, the girl tried to invade my mind. Fortunately, I am mighty."

From where she was standing, Felicity could see him. His eyes went glassy and were tinged with red; the god of thunder had been brought low by Wanda's power. Felicity could see the red light surrounding Natasha and she suddenly knew that Steve was next. Looking around desperately she saw him 2 decks directly below her. Wanda was moving again, Pietro was gearing up to run. Felicity saw the tactic they would use. Pietro would push Steve, knocking him over where he would be helplessly exposed to Wanda's influence.

"No." she said. Jumping over the railing, she hoped she'd moved fast enough. Pietro had just begun running at Steve when she landed in front of him. His eyes widened as he tried to back pedal, but for the first time, he just wasn't fast enough. He slammed into her, sending her flying into Steve. Both of them tumbled back, her on top of him. The bolt of power Wanda had prepared for Steve hit her instead.

"Felicity." Steve said in horror. She took a shuddering gasp. The last thing she saw was his worried expression coupled with the twins' looks of horror and guilt. Then the world went red.

* * *

"What did you do to her?" Steve shouted at Wanda. He was clutching Felicity's body against him. She was shuddering, her eyes wide, unseeing. Pietro looked as though he wanted to rip her away from him, but Steve held her tight. The young Maximoff girl looked at him, her eyes filled with pain.

"That was meant for you." Wanda said. "I didn't know she was there…it was meant for you."

"FIX IT." Steve shouted.

"I…I can't." Wanda said. Her eyes glowed red. Steve realized that whatever Felicity, Thor and Natasha were seeing, Wanda was seeing too.

Pietro grabbed his sister and rushed out of the boat. Tony radioed in a minute later. "Ultron got away with the goods. Do any of you copy?"

"This is Rogers, most of the team have been whammied." Steve watched Clint go down to try and coax Natasha to follow him. Felicity was out cold and Thor was standing frozen with his vision. "We'll rendezvous as soon as we can."

"Daddy." Felicity cried out suddenly, tears falling from her eyes. "Please."

He looked down at her, unable to imagine what she might be seeing. Her eyes were glowing red with Wanda's spell. Steve felt a rush of guilt. She'd already suffered so much, and now, because she had tried to protect him, she was suffering even more.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I'll make it stop, I…" Feeling helpless, he fell silent and picked her up to make his way back to the quinjet.

* * *

Pietro was fuming. Wanda was shaking, weakened by the effort of sustaining the 3 simultaneous visions. Pietro glared back at the boat. Putting Wanda down behind a tree outside he turned to go back. "I'm taking her with us." He growled. "Even if I have to rip her from Captain America's hands."

Wanda grabbed his arm.

"She's protecting Stark." Pietro hissed. "You said you saw the three of us reunited. What you failed to mention was that she would be siding with the man who murdered our parents. She's being used"

"Pietro." Wanda said, tears in her eyes. Pietro's angry expression softened.

"What do you see?" He murmured.

Wanda shuddered. "I…I think we might have been wrong." She said. "About all of them." She closed her eyes. "They are so broken. They want to help people. They…" She had tears welling up in her eyes. "Felicity." She whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Let me get her." Pietro said.

"No." Wanda said forcefully. "She's safer where she is…if there are any real safe places left." She frowned. "I need to understand more about Ultron's plan."


	11. Chapter 11

She was standing in a classroom. She seemed smaller somehow. The teacher and her classmates were gaping at her as she explained her science project. She was so proud. She'd worked on it for a week. She finished, waiting for the applause that had followed all the previous presentations, but her classmates only looked at her with confusion and glazed expressions. She turned to her teacher, but the man only looked at her in shock and…was that jealousy?

Then from the back of the class came a harsh whisper; "Freak."

Tears formed in her eyes as the room changed. She was sitting with a dark haired man and a blonde woman. The man was telling her that she was his brilliant little angel. She felt safe, loved. She wanted to stay here, but of course she couldn't.

The surroundings changed again. She was standing in a darkened entryway. There was a suitcase. The dark haired man had his back to her. Rain pelted the windows.

"Daddy." She pleaded. "Please." He didn't turn. He grabbed the suitcase and opened the door. She tried to run after him, but the blonde haired woman…her mother? Clutched her against her, crying.

"Freak." The voice echoed again. "No body stays."

She was older. There was a boy. He smiled as she showed him a program she'd created. He liked her, he wasn't afraid of her intelligence. Then he was torn from her. Dragged away. Gone. Dead.

A man stood in front of her. He was strong, beautiful.

"You're not going to lose me, Felicity." He said, reaching out to touch her arm. "I love you." But he stepped back when she tried to return his touch. He was forever out of her reach. Then the figures in black descended and dragged her even further away.

Pietro and Wanda are there. They held her, comforted her, called her their sister. She had a family, she was loved. Then suddenly they were gone in the blink of an eye. "Don't leave me." She begged. "Please." She shouted into the silence. Her surroundings changed.

The man from before was standing in front of her again. "Oliver." She said, reaching for him. He stepped back, the face formerly full of love twisted in horror. She looked down at her hand; it was covered in blood. She knew the blood belonged to them. Those people she'd killed.

"Freak." The word comes again.

"Oliver please." She turned back to him, but he shook his head.

"How could you?" He said, turning away. "Monster."

She tried to follow him, but her path was blocked by faceless figures. They all carry the hydra emblem. "Good work, soldier." One of them says. "You've followed your orders well." She freezes. Turning behind her, she already knows what she's going to see. There's a body there. Pale. Cold.

"No." She says as she kneels down next to Steve's motionless figure. "NO."

"Monster." The echoes called again.

"Freak."

Then Oliver's voice repeated. "How could you?"

"Forgive me." She whispered. She turned as all the victims Hydra had put on the other end of her sniper scope appeared. "I'm sorry." They stood motionless; looking at her silently. Then Baron von Strucker stepped forward. But he was dead, she told herself.

"You are an instrument of Hydra." He said. "Nothing else." Felicity bowed her head, holding Steve's body as the red tinged darkness swallowed her up.

* * *

Thor and Natasha walked onto the quinjet. The two of them seemed shaken, but back to normal. Bruce, who'd been trying to monitor Felicity's mental activity, walked nervously over to Natasha. She pushed him away.

"Why hasn't she snapped out of it?" Steve asked, looking down at Felicity.

"Oliver" She said. Her eyes were still tinged with the red of Maximoff's power.

"This was meant for me." He murmured. Clint came to stand next to him and looked down at her.

"Poor kid." He said, quietly. "She's got as much darkness as any of us."

"Oliver…please." She was pleading with an unseen person. Steve felt another wave of guilt. He should be the one on the table, not her. This would probably destroy any progress she'd made in the last few days.

"No." Felicity whimpered. "NO." More tears fell from her eyes. She began convulsing slightly

Steve was about to reach out a hand to steady her, when Clint grabbed his forearm.

"You don't know what she's seeing." He said. "You might make it worse."

"Forgive me." She said. Her voice hushed. "I'm sorry." She sounded broken. Tony, who'd just walked on to the plane, looked at her with pity.

"How long has she been like that?"

"About an hour." Steve murmured. "She keeps calling out."

Clint walked over to the cockpit.

"Okay…" Tony said. "We need to get a move on. We'll regroup at the tower."

Clint turned on the jet and took off. Tony walked over to the table. "How is she?"

"She jumped in front of the Maximoff girl's…magic." Steve murmured. Tony bristled at his use of, what he liked to call, the 'm' word. Steve ignored him. "It should be me on that table."

"Don't say that." Tony said. "Not to sound like an ass, but you're more valuable to us than she is."

Steve glared. Tony sighed. "That didn't sound as harsh as I heard it, right?" He bit his lip. "She's…that doesn't make it right. She deserves better than to have people constantly messing with her mind."

"Wow, Tony." Steve snorted. "You do have a heart."

"The wizard gave it to me himself." Tony smirked. "Understand the reference?"

Steve sat next to Felicity. Reaching out for her hand, he hesitated; afraid of making her visions worse. Drawing his hand back he clenched his fist and waited for her to wake.

She still hadn't 3 hours later when the jet touched down on the Tower hangar. Steve carried her to the infirmary. Maria came in a few minutes later "Maria, we need to get a doctor in here. Someone who…" He closed his eyes. "Please tell me we have some sort of wizard on call."

"No, but we do have guests." Maria said. He turned to look at her.

"Who?"

Maria stepped aside and he looked through the infirmary glass to see Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Wanda was holding Ultron's head. The rest of the Avengers rushed down from the lab.

"What are you doing here?" Bruce growled.

"We came to talk." Wanda said.

"Funny, we tried that earlier and it didn't go so well." Tony glared. "You attacked my team."

"We have important information that you need to hear." Wanda insisted.

"Why should we trust you?" Bruce said. He was standing next to Natasha and Steve noted that there was a tinge of green in his eyes.

"It is true we have given you no reason to." Wanda hung her head. Felicity twitched slightly. She was still stuck in the mind control. Wanda looked at her in surprise. "The visions should have left her."

"Well clearly you don't have as much control over your powers as you thought." Steve growled, moving to block Wanda's view of Felicity.

"No, you don't understand." Wanda said. "I saw everything that each one of you saw. Her…I am getting no more images from her."

Natasha's eyes widened. "Everything?" She rasped. Wanda nodded, regret evident on her face.

"I say we lock them in the Hulk room and let the big guy express his feelings." Tony muttered.

"I guess you want to finish the job you started with our parents." Pietro glared.

"What are you talking about?" Tony said.

"Our parents were blown up by a missile with your name on it." Pietro growled.

"I may have created the missile." Tony said, quietly. "But I wasn't the one who fired it."

"That doesn't mean you didn't sell it and gain money because of our parents' deaths." Pietro hissed.

Pain was etched on Tony's face. "I'm sorry." He said. "But I'm not the only one who builds weapons. That missile could have had any number of names on it."

"This argument gets us nowhere." Steve said, cutting across Pietro's angry retort. "Why haven't you handed us over to Ultron yet?"

"I questioned him about his plan for the Vibrainium." Wanda said. "When he became angry about the questions I asked he tried to attack me with the scepter to control my mind and mold it to his will." She tilted her head and held out the robot head she was holding. "He requires a new body now."

"So you destroyed one of his horcruxes." Clint said, taking the head and looking it over. "That means nothing as long as we don't know where he's keeping the rest of him."

"I know his base." Wanda said. "Both of us do. We can help you bring it down, destroy him. There is a problem."

"Of course, there's always a catch." Tony sighed.

"Ultron wants to become more than his limited form." Wanda said. "I have seen him, coveting the stone inside that scepter."

Thor looked at her in alarm. "A stone?" He asked.

Wanda looked at him curiously. "Do you know what it is?"

Thor's expression darkened. "Even if I was certain, I am not inclined to share that information with you."

Wanda nodded. "I understand." She turned to the other Avengers. "The base is in Sokovia, in Baron von Strucker's old base of operation. He's using the vibranium for something." She shook her head. "I do not know what, I cannot read him."

"So you say." Clint growled.

"If you do not believe us." Wanda said. "Then take one of us to investigate while locking the other up." She turned to Natasha. "That is what you were about to suggest, is it not?"

Natasha frowned. "I think you've done enough digging in my head for one day." She said, her voice hushed. "And now you know what I'm capable of."

Wanda nodded. Steve turned back to Felicity. She still hadn't come out of her trance.

"Is there anything you can do for her?" He asked. Wanda was about to walk to her when Tony blocked her path.

"Nuh uh. No way."

"Tony."

"She's the reason your girlfriend's in this mess in the first place." Tony growled. "You don't know what it's like to have her mess around in your skull, Cap." He glared at Wanda. "I do."

Steve looked down at the infirmary bed. Felicity showed no signs of even knowing he was there. Touching her cheek softly he turned back to look at the twins. "Felicity mentioned that you called her your little sister and that you looked out for her when she was the winter soldier." He paused. "She seemed to care about you. She was heartbroken when you left her that day."

Wanda hung her head while Pietro defiantly crossed his arms. "I did not want to." Wanda said. "But I foresaw many outcomes for that day and the best path was the one I chose."

Steve's hands turned to fists. "She's catatonic. How is this the best path?"

"Because it led her to you." Wanda said simply. "I saw you; her freedom, her salvation…her shield from hydra's influence." She froze, her eyes widening as if she'd said too much. Steve looked back down at Felicity.

"Help her." He croaked. "Help her and I might be inclined to believe you."

Wanda nodded. Holding her hands over Felicity's head, she took a deep breath. Her eyes and hands glowed red. Tendrils left her fingers and surrounded Felicity's head. "She is lost." Wanda murmured. "She is blocking her own return. She…she believes she deserves what is being done to her." Her voice was breaking. "She views this as punishment for what Hydra forced her to do."

"Get her back." Steve said.

"I'm…trying." Wanda said. A trickle of blood came out of her nose. Pietro took an alarmed step forward, but at that moment Felicity's eyes cleared and went back to their normal blue. She gave a shuddering gasp, then closed them. Wanda put her hands down.

"She'll sleep for a few hours." She said. "I made sure that it would be dreamless." She looked at Steve uncertainly. "When she wakes…she will need you."

"What did she see?" Steve asked. "When you put her under your mindspell, what did she see?"

"It is not my place to tell." Wanda murmured.

"Oh sure." Tony hissed. "I guess there's such a thing as mind controller/mind rape victim confidentiality."

"I-" Wanda said.

"Enough." Steve said. "If this lead pans out, we might be able to get ahead of Ultron."

"So we blindly trust her?" Tony glared.

"No." Steve said. "We take it with a grain of salt." He frowned at the twins. "We need to send someone to do recognizance." He looked at Pietro. "leaving you with Tony is grounds for a disaster." He paused. "But you're too fast for any of us to keep up with in the field."

Pietro snorted. "I'll curb my speed."

Steve shook his head. "You're too fast for any of us, but luckily we have friends." He grabbed his cell phone. "I'm calling Central City and having them send over Allen." He sighed. "Maria can I trust you to get him on board and not mention." He gestured to Felicity. Maria nodded.

Steve looked at the twins. "Are you with us?" He asked. Pietro glared at Tony, but nodded. Wanda looked down at Felicity and said quietly.

"We abandoned her once. Never again."

Steve nodded and turned back to Bruce. "Are we okay or are we green?"

Bruce bit his lip. "I think we're okay." He said. "As long as they don't cross us."

"Good." The team began filing out of the infirmary. Steve looked at Felicity; Wanda had seated herself on the bed next to her and had taken the other woman's head on her lap. Slowly, she was running her fingers through Felicity's hair. Steve raised an eyebrow.

"After a mindwipe, this was one of the only things that would calm her down." Wanda explained softly.

Steve gave her a nod. "Thank you." He murmured. "For bringing her back."

"Do not thank me Captain." Wanda said gravely. "She is not back yet."


	12. Chapter 12

Oliver was visiting Team Flash. He'd been antsy ever since Barry had contacted the Avengers and was desperate for updates.

"Are you sure she told you she'd contact them?" Oliver hissed as he and Barry investigated a string of robberies in downtown Central City.

"Have you met Maria Hill?" Barry retorted. "If she says she's going to do something, believe me; she'll do it. She was Fury's second in command. She doesn't kid, especially with something so serious." He ran to get into position on the other side of the street he was patrolling. "Plus, I get the feeling that she'd like to stick it to Waller. She doesn't approve of how ARGUS is encroaching on SHIELD's territory."

"Well if SHIELD weren't also Hydra, we wouldn't be in this mess." Oliver growled. "And we might have found Felicity by now." He caught sight of one of the targets and shot a net arrow, trapping him. "Tell detective West I've got one of the suspects trapped on 23rd between Pine and Wilcrest."

"And I've got the others on 21st." Barry said. "See you back at STAR labs."

Oliver rolled his eyes as a red streak flew past him. "Show off." He grumbled. Jumping on his bike he took off after him.

"Call her." He said went he got back to STAR labs.

Barry sighed. "I don't know how much pull you think I have with the Avengers, but it's definitely not enough to pester them every two seconds."

"Felicity is out there being forced to kill people and you're worried because you might annoy Tony Stark?" Oliver growled.

"I'm worried because they might be our best resource to find her and if we piss them off they might not help us." Barry retorted. "Maria will call with updates."

His phone, which was sitting on the desk next to Cisco, started to ring. Cisco looked at the caller id and his eyes grew wide. He was about to answer the phone when Barry grabbed the phone out of his hand and zoomed to stand on the other side of the lab.

"Hello Captain Rogers, sir" He said, glaring at Cisco who was pouting. "Do you have any…oh…" His expression changed. "

Cisco shouted "Say hi for me!" Barry shushed him

"REALLY?...uh sure I'd be happy to help….when?….right, should I bring….no…okay…yes I understand. Um, I hate to ask this Captain, but I called Maria about a week ago…" Barry's expression changed to one of relief. "She told you, good it's just I was worried….okay…not I understand…I'll be there…Flash out." He hung up.

"Flash out?" Cisco said. "I can't believe you just said that to Captain America."

"It wasn't that lame." Barry said defensively.

"Yeah, it kinda was." Iris smirked.

"I think he's starstruck." Caitlin said.

"It's Captain America." Cisco said.

Iris and Caitlin looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "I swear they've got bigger crushes on him then we do." Iris snickered.

"And that's saying something because he's on my list of free passes." Caitlin added.

"Mine too!" Iris said.

Oliver cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at him. "What did he say about Felicity?"

"The Avengers want me to help with a mission in Sokovia." Barry explained. "Cap said Maria told him about Felicity and that we'd talk more once I got to Avengers Tower."

"WE'RE GOING TO NEW YORK!" Cisco said. "I've had a bag packed just in case something like this happened."

"No." Barry said sheepishly. "Cap said that I wasn't allowed to bring anyone else…he was really specific on that."

Cisco's face fell. Though Caitlin was better at hiding her disappointment, it was still really evident that she wanted to go along too.

Oliver closed his eyes in irritation. "If he has any information on her…" He said, his voice low.

"I promise I'll tell you." Barry said solemnly.

Oliver nodded. "I need to get back to Starling." He turned to leave the lab.

"Why don't you stay for a while?" Cisco suggested. "I have some great ideas for your arrows and-"

He broke off. Oliver gave him an attempt at a smile. "Maybe some other time, Cisco." He said.

* * *

Steve hadn't left Felicity's side. After Wanda had fixed her, he'd brought her down to his floor, and put her in the guest room. It was the first time he was grateful for Tony's insistence that each personal floor be outfitted with extra bed rooms. He wanted to be close to her and he worried about how waking up in another medical setting would affect her. She stirred slightly when he'd put her down, but she hadn't shown any signs of consciousness since. He'd contacted Team Flash and gotten Barry to come on the first flight over, but the speedster was about an hour out.

He knew he couldn't tell Allen about Felicity without her consent. Allen was too close to the Arrow and if her mournful pleas of the Arrow's name were anything to go by, Steve suspected that they shared a more painful history than he'd originally believed. Barry was as terrible a liar as Steve was and he would not be able to keep Felicity a secret from Oliver Queen. The problem was, Steve was also terrible at keeping secrets…and secrets were what had gotten them into this mess in the first place.

There was a small gasp from the bed. Steve looked up to see Felicity moving. She sat up, looking around at her surroundings. Her eyes latched on to his and for one heartbreaking second, there was no look of recognition in their depths. Then her eyes widened and she shifted backwards. Steve held up his hands.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said. "Do you know who I am?"

There was a moment of silence. She was looking at him with a mixture of fear, pain and…strangely guilt. Then came a soft whisper of "Steve".

He nodded, giving her an encouraging smile. "And do you know who you are?"

She looked down at her hands and nodded. "Yes." She said. "A monster."

Steve closed his eyes. "That's not true, Felicity."

"Then why did they all leave?" She asked, her voice small; broken.

"Is that what you saw?" He asked. It was the wrong thing to say. Her mouth closed and she looked away from him.

"I'm not going anywhere Felicity." He said. She flinched. He hesitated before asking. "Are you worried that…did you see me leaving?"

"No." She whispered. "I saw you dead."

"Oh." Steve said. "Um…"

"I killed you." She said. "Your blood was on my hands because I killed you."

"No, you didn't" Steve said, "it was all in your head." He took her hand gently. "Hey. You didn't kill me; you saved me…again." He smirked. "It's becoming a habit of yours."

She pulled her hand out of his. Looking around she frowned. "Where am I?"

"My floor." Steve explained. "I didn't want to leave you alone and I thought you might not want to wake up in the infirmary again." He bit his lip. "Wanda is here."

Her eyes widened.

"She and Pietro broke into the Tower." Steve continued. "Wanda pulled you out of your trance. They say they've left Ultron and want to help us."

Felicity didn't say anything.

"Pietro's getting ready for a mission, but Wanda asked me to tell her if you woke. She'd like to see you, if you're up for it."

She began picking at the blanket. "They came back?" she asked.

Steve nodded. "They didn't want to leave you, but Wanda said something about…paths in her visions. I don't really understand her powers and I don't think she really does either."

They sat in silence. Felicity tilted her head. "Is Natasha ok?"

"She doesn't want to talk to me." Steve said. "I don't blame her." He moved and sat on the bed next to Felicity. "Just like I understand if you don't want to tell me." He hoped she would confide in him.

"Where's Pietro going?" Felicity asked.

"He and a few others are going to surveil Ultron's hideout. Wanda told us that he set up in Strucker's old hideout." Steve explained. Felicity sat up. "And no, you're not helping." Steve smiled.

"But."

"No." He said. "You need to rest and process."

She looked like she was about to protest, but relented. "Can I…talk to Wanda?" she said finally.

Steve nodded. "I'll call her." He looked up at the ceiling. "Um THURSDAY?"

"It's FRIDAY, Captain Rogers." The new program said.

"Right, FRIDAY." Steve said. Felicity raised her eyebrows. "It's JARVIS's replacement." He explained. "Tony's helpless without a disembodied voice telling him what to do. And Ms. Potts is in the California headquarters."

Felicity frowned. "So the program is his girl Friday…" She said slowly.

"I guess?" Steve said, not quite understanding the significance. "FRIDAY, can you tell Wanda that Felicity is awake and asking for her?"

"Of course, Captain."

"Can you stay?" Felicity asked. "When Wanda comes."

Steve felt a rush of relief. "You don't even need to ask."

Wanda came in a few minutes later. Steve stood to go back into the corner chair. As he passed Wanda, it seemed to him that she gave him an approving nod.

A few hours later after a few angry tears and apologies Felicity had been convinced to take another nap.

"Pietro left with Allen." Wanda said. "We should be hearing from them soon."

Steve nodded. "I wanted to ask…do you think there's any way to…that you could…"

"You want me to restore her memories." Wanda said.

Steve frowned. "I'm not sure how I feel about you poking around in my head."

Wanda chuckled. "I did not need to. Your thoughts are evident on your face." She smiled. "She needs someone like that." She frowned. "I cannot restore all her memories at once. It will be distressing for her and she might not recover." She said. "She is rebuilding the memories herself. I can help her with that."

Steve looked down at Felicity. She seemed peaceful, calm.

"You are good for her." A small voice whispered in his head. He looked back at Wanda.

"Personal boundaries, Maximoff." Steve said.

"Understood, Captain Rogers."


	13. Chapter 13

Felicity woke up a few hours later. Wanda had dozed off and there was a note on the chair Steve had been sitting in. Felicity slipped silently off the bed, so as to not disturb Wanda, and picked it up.

Gone to a mission debrief, be back soon- Steve

Letting Wanda sleep, Felicity decided to explore Steve's apartment. He'd complained earlier about the ridiculous size Tony had insisted on. Now that she'd left the room, she got to see what he'd meant first hand. She couldn't be sure, but she got the feeling it was much bigger than any place she'd ever lived.

Steve kept his apartment neat and orderly. There was an impressive collection of old jazz records and a large amount of books. Most of them, Felicity noted as she walked over to the bookshelf, were history books. The topics ranged from politics to art movements, and she noted that almost all of them focused on the last 70 years. There were also a few sketch books. She pulled the most recent one off the shelf. There was only one sketch. Felicity's eyes widened as she realized it was of her. She was wearing her winter soldier uniform, but Steve had chosen to remove the mask and goggles. She was holding them in one of her hands, her eyes were scrunched and her head tilted as if she were thinking. The empty hand was balled into a fist at her side, but her posed appeared relaxed. There was a smile playing at her lips. It wasn't a happy smile; it seemed wistful. Felicity traced her fingers over the drawing. Steve had managed to make her appear vulnerable and strong at the same time. She closed her eyes and abruptly shut the sketch book, putting it back with the others.

Running her fingers along the spines of a row of the books, she turned to look at the rest of the room. Her eyes fell on his computer. She walked over to his desk, and swept her fingers over the keyboard. She felt a stab of frustration. There was something nagging at her brain. Something she should know or could be doing.

"Come on." She murmured. "I know this." Closing her eyes, she prepared for the pain which always came when she tried to remember something. There was a part of her brain which held the knowledge she needed. She could feel it; it was just a question of finding…her eyes snapped open. Rushing to the elevator she frantically said; "FRIDAY, take me to the lab."

"I'm sorry Ms. Smoak, but you are not authorized to access the lab."

Felicity punched the wall of the elevator and ripped off the side panel. Playing with the wires, she managed to reprogram to the elevator. "I'll show you not authorized." She said, a smile playing on her lips.

* * *

Steve was in the infirmary, debriefing Barry and Pietro…at least he was trying to. Pietro had taken a small hit, but his accelerated metabolism had allowed him to mostly heal. Barry and Pietro were currently bonding over their similar abilities while Steve and Maria looked on in amused frustration.

"Our powers are really similar." Barry said. "You mentioned you got them in a lab experiment?"

Pietro nodded. "It was only slightly more painful than being struck by lightning." He shrugged.

Barry was giddy. "I noticed that we you run you leave behind a blue streak. Mine's red. Do you think if we ran next to each other, it would be purple?"

Pietro's face broke into an impish grin. "Well we could try…if you think you can keep up."

Barry crossed his arms. "I tripped, it was an accident." He huffed. "Can you run on water?"

"Not many places with a lot of water in Sokovia." Pietro retorted.

"Can you vibrate your molecules to phase through walls?" Barry asked.

"Never tried."

"How about time travel?"

"Time…" Pietro's eyes widened with excitement.

"Absolutely not." Steve and Maria said in unison. The two speedsters jumped and turned to look at them. Steve raised an eyebrow. "How did the mission go?" he prompted.

"There is a base in Sokovia." Barry said

"Just like Wanda and I told you." Pietro muttered.

"As far as I can tell." Barry shot him a silencing look. "Ultron is infusing Vibrainium into the ground, deep past the upper crust. What he's planning on doing with that, I can't imagine. I've got Cisco and Caitlin coming up with ideas and…each one they come up with is as horrifying as it is implausible." He fidgeted, nervously.

"We're going to need all hands on deck," Steve said. "Do you want to help?"

Barry nodded. Steve looked down at Pietro. "Thank you for the information." He patted him on the shoulder. Giving Maria a pointed look, Steve waited until she pulled Barry aside to lean in to whisper, "you didn't tell him about our friend downstairs, did you?" He'd made sure that Pietro knew not to tell Barry about Felicity before they left for the mission. Pietro had acquiesced, but Steve had the suspicion that if Pietro had disagreed with his reasoning, he'd have spilled the beans.

Pietro gave him an offended look. "If you are referring to my sister." He hissed, "Then Wanda and I have been looking out for her a lot longer than you."

Straightening up, Steve nodded at Maria and Barry and turned to leave.

"Cap." There was a gust of air and suddenly Barry was standing in front of him. "I don't want to sound like I'm being pushy, especially with a crisis like this one looming over our heads. But I there was that thing I asked you about and -"

"Your friend Felicity." Steve interrupted.

"She's a very special person." Barry explained. "She means a lot to me and my friends." He looked at the ground. "Oliver…the um…the Arrow, practically lost his sanity after she was taken."

Steve felt a stab of doubt as to whether his decision to keep Felicity a secret was the best policy for her friends, but he had her mental health to think of. He couldn't risk her having a dangerous episode because he forced her into something she wasn't ready for. She needed to make the decision to see Barry.

"Do you have any information?" Barry looked like a wide-eyed hopeful puppy and Steve mentally kicked himself for lying.

"As soon as I have information, I'll tell you." He said. Just then Tony radioed in from the lab.

"CAAAAAAAAP. Your crazy girlfriend's messing with my systems."

Steve looked up to the lab. Tony was gesticulating wildly to where Felicity was working with the lab screens. He closed his eyes and turned to face Barry's thunderous expression.

"Um…Mr. Allen, it appears I have some information for you." He said sheepishly.

Barry gave him a shocked look, then zoomed up to the lab. Steve turned to Pietro.

"Aye aye Captain." Pietro zipped after Barry and dragged him back from the lab before Felicity realized he was there.

Barry was struggling against Pietro's grip. "What the hell, Cap?" he shouted.

"It's complicated and I promise I'll explain, but right now you need to trust me." Steve said.

"Why should I trust you, you lied to me?" Barry hissed.

"Because I did it for her." Steve pointed up to the lab where Felicity still had her back to the infirmary. "We're not even sure of the extent of what she's been through and considering that Waller has a kill order out, the less people who know; the better."

Barry stopped fighting Pietro, but his expression remained furious.

Steve began making his way up to the lab.


	14. Chapter 14

Steve stepped into the lab. Tony and Bruce were both staring open mouthed at Felicity.

"Is there a prob-"

"Sh sh sh sh sh" Tony waved his hand, silencing him. "She's doing magic." He whispered.

Felicity's fingers were flying. Her enhancement made her reflexes faster, so she was able to work the computer with more speed than Steve had ever seen Tony use. In the center of the room a program was beginning to assemble in the center holo-table.

"That's-" Steve said.

"SHHHHHH" Tony and Bruce glared at him.

"You called me up here." Steve hissed.

"That was before I knew we were in the presence of Athena incarnate." Tony retorted.

Steve fell silent and watched in amazement as Felicity completely rebuilt JARVIS's entire program. Backing away from the screens, she started swaying. Steve grabbed her and steadied her.

"Are you okay?" Tony said rushing over. "Do you need water or a towel or a Nobel Prize, because I am willing to buy all of those for you and more."

"Tony." Steve grumbled.

"Do you realize what she just did?" Bruce asked.

"She resurrected JARVIS." Tony said. "She must have created a backdoor in the computer system during the first Ultron attack which allowed enough of his program to escape, making it easier for her to go back and find him later. Then she reconstituted the parts that didn't make it." He gaped at her. "I'm in love."

Steve looked down at Felicity. "Are you okay?" He looked her over for any signs of injury.

"I just feel woozy." She said. "I…got the feeling that I knew how to do it

and – " She shrugged, a brilliant smile breaking over her face; "I did it!"

Steve nodded. "Yes." He couldn't help smiling back. "Yes, you did."

"Stop hoovering." Tony said. "You're overwhelming her." He gave Steve a shove. "Marry me." He said to Felicity.

"I'm pretty sure Pepper might have some objections." Steve said, pulling Felicity closer to his side.

"Then she can marry her too." Tony said. "I'm willing to share…with Pepper."

Felicity was shaking her head at Tony's antics, when she suddenly froze. Her eyes grew wide. Steve noticed that she was looking down at the infirmary…where Barry was standing next to Pietro. She stood, walking down the steps; she opened the door and walked over to the Scarlet Speedster, her expression confused.

"You seem…familiar." She said softly.

"Felicity it's me." Barry said. "It's Barry, Barry Allen."

She backed away from him, her hands coming to her head. She let out a small cry of pain.

"What's wrong?" Barry said.

Steve came to stand behind her, as a steadying force. Gently putting his hands on her shoulders he looked at Barry and indicated to meet him outside. Barry stubbornly planted his feet and crossed his arms, refusing to move. Helping Felicity over to a chair, Steve waited until Pietro came over to take Felicity's hand, before pulling Barry out of the room. Leading him down the hall, and up a few floors, he brought him into the common area.

"Her mind was wiped by Hydra." He explained, indicating a seat.

"We figured that; our Felicity would never kill." Barry said, sitting on the couch and crossing his arms.

Steve felt a stab of anger. Though he was sure Barry hadn't meant it, his use of the word 'our' implied that the woman in the lab was somehow not equal to the woman he'd known. "She's still the same person, she's just gone through a trauma the likes of which no one should be able to imagine." Steve shook his head. "It causes her pain every time she tries to remember something. Sometimes, things come on their own and that seems to be okay, but when she tries to force it…" He trailed off.

"How long have you had her here?" Barry asked.

"We found her during a bust of a Hydra facility the day you contacted us." Steve said.

"What did they do to her?" Barry asked.

Steve took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of the Winter Soldier?"

About an hour later, Barry was sitting on one of the couches with his head in his hands.

"How the hell am I going to tell the others?" He asked.

"I don't know if you should." Steve said.

"Why? Are you afraid that Oliver and the others will try to take her?" Barry asked, then his eyes narrowed. "Wait…that is what you're worried about, isn't it."

"Yes and no." Steve said. "I'm concerned that forcing her to confront her past directly could irreparably damage her."

"She's already been irreparably damaged." Barry hissed. Steve looked at him in shock.

"This is exactly why I held off on telling you. She's not broken, but that doesn't mean that she isn't vulnerable. You can't expect her to be the person she was and get angry because she no longer fits your image of who you believe she should be. You saw what happened in the lab, she was blindsided and tried to force her memories; it does more bad than good. What do you think is going to happen when you tell her team? Do you think you'll be able to stop them from coming here? Do you think if I had called you up when I found her, that you'd have even waited a second before running here?"

Barry looked at the ground in shame. "She's never going to be the same again is she?"

"No." Steve said.

"Two years." Barry's voice was hoarse. "I guess we should have expected that the Felicity we'd find…" He closed his eyes. "You're right. She's better off here for now. I can hold off on whether or not to brief the others after we deal with Ultron."

"Thank you." Steve said.

"I just…I wish you could have met her before." Barry said. "she was…"

"She is." Steve corrected.

"Cap." Tony said, rushing into the room. "We've got a situation; Crazy Red, and I don't mean Nat, just showed up in the infirmary because she had a feeling. After checking over your girl, she told Bruce he should call Dr. Cho. No one's answering. Maximoff says it's bad and that she thinks Ultron's behind it. You, the spy kids, the super twins, and Speedy red-zales are going to check on her."

"Where's Thor?" Steve asked.

Tony rolled his eyes. "On some sort of vision quest to 'find answers'," he made air quotes. "If he wanders out of the woods before you come back I'll hose off the animal blood and send him your way."

"Felicity?" Steve asked.

"Wanda made her sleep. She's fine, but she needs rest." Tony "No worries, I'll watch her while you're gone." He faltered at the look on Steve's face. Sighing he corrected, "no worries, Bruce'll watch her while you're gone." Then he glared at Barry. "BTW, all your future playdates with Smoakie have been canceled."

"Tony." Steve said.

"We can't risk any damage to her psyche." Tony insisted. "Until she asks for him, he's not seeing her. That's final." He puffed out his chest in an attempt to look threatening. Barry got a bemused expression

"Yes sir."

Steve tried to hide a smile. Though he often tried to hide it, there was no denying that deep down, Tony cared about those around him. He was surprised at the speed with which the billionaire had taken to Felicity; usually it took Tony years or an alien invasion to be able to trust someone and be protective of them. Steve's amusement must have shown on his face because Tony shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat before saying:

"Right. Um…get out there and do some Avenging…don't die." He turned and walked to the lab.

"Wow." Barry said. "That's…encouraging."

"Don't worry." Steve smirked. "I'll make sure your dessert privileges haven't also been revoked."


	15. Chapter 15

Hours later, Felicity was sitting in the lab. Tony and Bruce were arguing over some cradle Clint had brought back from the mission. Apparently Ultron had tried to use it to create a living body. Felicity was tuning out the conversation. The mission had gone south. Natasha had been captured and Steve, Wanda, Pietro and Barry had been stranded in Seoul. Clint had been forced to leave them in order to ensure that the mission wasn't a complete failure. Maria had taken a quinjet to pick up the rest of the team. They'd gone radio silent to ensure Ultron wouldn't track them. She frowned to herself, wondering why Barry seemed so familiar to her. She knew she'd promised Tony she wouldn't try to recall memories, but she hated feeling like there were things she should know. Closing her eyes, she slowly concentrated on the block in her mind and tried to push past it.

"You okay hon?" Clint was standing behind her. He seemed nervous, Felicity knew he blamed himself for Natasha's capture. She nodded.

"It's just you've got." He motioned to her nose. Wiping, she found blood.

"I…I was just thinking." She muttered. "Trying to remember."

"Sounds dangerous." Clint said. "You shouldn't force it; the memories will come on their own. Plus Cap would freak if he came back and found out you'd thought yourself into a coma."

"They should be back by now." Felicity said quietly.

Clint frowned. "They will, Maria strikes fear into the hearts of all. Even crazy despotic murderbots." He nodded as though he was trying to reassure himself. "They'll be back." He looked over to where Tony and Bruce seemed to be setting up some kind of experiment. "What do you think they're doing?"

"I…" she looked over at them. "I wasn't paying attention I was…"

"Too busy worrying about Steve?" Clint said. "And trying to force yourself into shock in order to get your mind off of it." he sighed. "How about you come and help me create some of the world's most dangerous arrow heads? I don't care if robots don't feel pain; I'm going to makes sure Ultron bleeds."

Steve and the rest of the team burst into the lab. "Shut it down now, Tony." He pointed to the cradle.

"What's going on?" Clint asked.

"He's trying to finish what Ultron started." Steve hissed.

"And you know that why?" Clint asked. "Because she told you?" he pointed to Wanda. "You're going place her judgement in front of your teams'?"

Tony crossed his arms. "You don't understand, Cap."

"You're right; I don't." Steve growled. "I really can't understand how you'd make the same mistake twice. Haven't enough people suffered because of your creations?"

"This could fix that." Tony shouted.

"Or it could make things unbelievably worse." Steve yelled back. "I'm not willing to take that chance. Now shut off that upload."

"We're wasting time." Pietro growled. Zipping through the room he yanked all the tubes and wires out of the cradle. "There." He smirked. "End of problem."

Tony glared at him. Another argument was about to break out when Thor strode into the lab. Jumping onto the table he swung his hammer through the air until it crackled with energy, he brought it down onto the cradle. The entire room was alive with electricity Felicity ducked down, whimpering and covering her eyes.

"Felicity," Wanda said.

Felicity shook her head and closed her eyes. "Make it stop, please." She begged as she curled up into a ball.

* * *

Steve could not believe what Thor had done. He watched, ready to attack as the body meant for Ultron came alive. Thor explained that the jewel on the new creature's forehead was the mind stone and that he'd seen it in the vision Wanda had given him.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Steve growled.

The new creature tilted his head. "I…guess there is no real way to know." He contemplated in the voice that sounded like JARVIS, but wasn't. "All you need to know is that I stand for life, while Ultron only wishes destruction. If you stand for life, then we are on the same side." He walked around the lab. "But there is little time left." He said. "And we must go." Gripping hold of Mjolnir, he picked it up and held it out to Thor. Thor's eyes grew wide, Steve felt a smug sense of amusement. Thor had clearly been thrown off by the newcomer's ability to wield the hammer.

"I guess we trust him." Thor said, clearing his throat uncomfortably and taking back the hammer. Steve looked at around the lab and his eyes fell on Wanda who was sitting in the corner with…Felicity.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he rushed over. Felicity was in a fetal position and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"The lightning." Wanda explained. "The machine Hydra would use to wipe her gave her electric shocks." She gently rocked Felicity in an attempt to comfort her.

"Please." Felicity begged. "I don't want to go back to the chair."

"No one's taking you to the chair." Steve said. "Come back, you're safe." He stroked her hair gently. There was a small gust of wind as Pietro moved to encircle both Wanda and Felicity in his arms. Felicity leaned against the hand in her hair. Her breathing evened and she slowly stopped shuddering.

Her eyes opened.

"Hey." Steve said. "Are you with us?"

Felicity nodded.

"Good. The team has to go to Sokovia to stop Ultron." Steve said. "Are you going to be okay here?"

"We can not just leave her here alone." Pietro insisted.

"And we can not bring her out into the field so soon after a shock." Wanda glared at her brother.

"My friend Sam can look after her." Steve said. "He's still in NY", he looked at Felicity. "Is that okay?"

She frowned. Than nodded slowly. Getting shakily to her feet, she began making her way to the elevator. "I'll…I'll be in your apartment, tell Sam to meet me there."

Felicity made her way to the elevator.

"Shall I take you down to Captain's Rogers' floor, Ms. Smoak?" FRIDAY chimed in.

"No." Felicity said, turning back to the wall panel. "but, I'm going to make it look like you brought me down to his apartment."

"Ms. Smoak I really must insist that you not tinker with my program – " FRIDAY sighed. There was a jolt and the elevator began moving. It was making its way down to the changing room where her uniform and weapons were; she'd need them for the fight to come.

* * *

When Sam got to the tower about an hour later, he made his way straight to Steve's floor. The second he stepped out on the floor, the elevator doors shut behind him.

"Hi Sam," Felicity's voice said. "If you're hearing this it means you got to the apartment and can't find me. I snuck onto the Avengejet to help them. I've also reprogramed FRIDAY so you won't be able to contact Steve or leave the floor until the Avengejet leaves. Sorry."

Sam shook his head. "She's as hot headed as you Cap." He chuckled. "The two of you deserve each other." He sat on the couch and contemplated raiding Steve's fridge. His phone rang.

"Sam's phone." He said.

"Sammy long time no speak." His cousin's poison sweet voice sent a chill through Sam's body.

"Mandy, it hasn't been long enough." He gritted his teeth. "What do you want? Planning on calling the feds on another family member?"

"Your friends have an interesting new playmate." Amanda Waller continued.

"Yeah, the evil robot thing threw everyone off, but the Avengers are trying to fix it." Sam said.

"I'm talking about the woman in black." Amanda said. "The winter soldier."

Sam froze. "Amanda…"

"I've been monitoring satellite imagery of Wakanda. There was some strange activity there. The Avengers and Ultron and all of a sudden, what should I see, but the blonde woman I've ordered killed being cradled in Captain America's arms."

"And you're calling me because…?" Sam asked, trying to keep calm.

"As if you didn't know. How long has Rogers had her?" Amanda growled.

"Are you sure we're related?" Sam asked. "Because I want a DNA test."

"The Winter Soldier is a dangerous killer." Amanda said.

"Her name is Felicity Smoak." Sam said. "And I suggest you leave her alone unless you want the symbol of hope and freedom to come to Starling and smack you around with his Frisbee of liberty."

"And don't think I don't know about you trying to find the original Winter Soldier." Amanda hissed. "You better hope I don't find him first."

She hung up. Sam rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, you better run." He growled.


	16. Chapter 16

Pietro was the first person who caught on to Felicity's presence on the jet. She'd hidden in a storage locker and they had almost arrived in Sokovia when he opened it. There was a momentary look of surprise on his face, then he grinned.

"Maximoff what are …." Steve trailed off as he walked over and caught sight of Felicity. "Please tell me you didn't help her sneak aboard."

"No, I came on my own." Felicity said.

Steve sighed and rubbed his face. "And now I know how Bucky felt when I got myself into trouble." He muttered. "I'm guessing there's no point in trying to convince you to stay out of the fight?"

Felicity crossed her arms. Steve laughed and turned to the rest of the Avengers. "It appears we have a stowaway." Felicity stepped out of the storage locker.

"Wait, she's going to fight with us?" Barry asked, his expression horrified.

"The Lady Smoak fights with honor." Thor grinned and threw his arm around Felicity's shoulders. "It is glorious indeed to enter into battle beside her once more."

"Once more…as in she's done this before?" Barry asked.

"Yes." Steve said, his tone brokered no argument and silenced Barry's next comment. Steve moved back into the center of the Avengejet. "Vision says we need to destroy every part of Ultron. If even one survives, he can replicate." He looked around at every person in the jet. "I don't think I need to remind everyone what's at stake here. This fight is bigger than all of us. Your best isn't good enough. If you get hit, shake it off. If you die, walk it off."

The other Avengers nodded. Steve turned and pulled Felicity aside. "I know we're about to walk into something that…not everyone might walk out of. Please, keep yourself alive."

"Is that an order, Captain?" Felicity asked.

Steve fidgeted. "I'll have your back, and I know you'll have mine, but sometimes there are circumstances that are unprecedented and I'd be….Well I'd be pretty torn up if something happened…just promise me…"

"ETA's 5 minutes." Clint called from the cockpit.

"Seriously Hawkass?" Tony said. "I was enjoying watching Cap stick his foot in his mouth." He smirked. "It's okay to tell a pretty lady you like her, especially if you both might end up dead in a few hours."

Pietro frowned at Steve. "What are your intentions towards – "

Felicity and Wanda both reached out and smacked him on the back of the head.

"Unnecessary." He muttered, rubbing his head. Pointing at Steve he said, "we continue this after battle."

* * *

Chaos was too kind a word to describe the hell the battle had descended into. Felicity was watching in horror as a large portion of the country of Sokovia was lifted into the sky. If she didn't act fast, she'd be stranded. Looking around, she tried to find a way up and caught sight of an Ultron bot flying up to rejoin the others. Taking a running start she jumped onto its back.

It tried throwing her off, but she held on. Realizing that it couldn't dislodge her, it decided to fly straight at the side of the rising city. Felicity waited until the last possible second before letting go and grabbing hold of a piece of broken railing. The robot crashed next to her and shattered. She began dragging herself up the side. Grabbing roots, pipes, anything she could hold.

"Need a hand?"

She looked up to see Steve holding out his hand. Felicity grabbed her staff and held it up. Steve grabbed the end and waited until she was holding on to it with both hands before pulling her up.

"Admit it; you left me behind to keep all the good robots to yourself." She said. She turned and drove her Bo staff through an incoming robot. Slamming it to the ground she managed to break the robot into pieces.

"Remind me to stay on your good side." Steve said, holding up his shield he decapitated an oncoming robot. "Wanna help me win the war of machines?"

Felicity nodded. It was thirty grueling minutes and 70 destroyed robots later before Felicity noticed a person looking at her from one of the buildings.

"There are still civilians up here?" Felicity asked. "I don't suppose that shield doubles as a parachute."

"Don't say that too loud." Steve said. "Tony might hear you and be inspired."

Felicity noticed a group of four robots advancing behind Steve. Running forward she jumped, using Steve's shoulders to flip and kick the two center robots in the chest. She slammed the staff into the one on the right and threw a star into the one on her left. The star embedded itself in the robot's chest and exploded. She turned to Steve who gave her an appreciative look. Then Pietro zipped over.

"I need Felicity. Over there, away from you." He picked up Felicity and gave Steve a mock salute and ran off before either of them could blink. He brought her to the center of the city where Wanda was blasting any robot that got near her. "Stay with Wanda." Pietro said as he put her down. "No Captains in tight pants." He added wagging his finger at her. Then he ran off.

"Brothers." Wanda said. She and Felicity shared an amused look before focusing on the fight. They combined their abilities, Wanda adding a burst of energy to Felicity's throwing stars. Felicity using her Bo staff to hit Wanda's energy bursts at advancing robots. Once in a while they'd catch sight of one of the other Avengers. Hulk roared in the distance, smashing his way through anything that got too close to him. There was a flash of red as Barry ran past. Felicity caught sight of Natasha. She was relieved that the Widow was ok.

"This is going to mean nothing if we don't get the civilians clear." Steve said over coms.

"Well then Cap I guess it's a good thing I came to save your butts." A new voice said over coms. Steve let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Fury, you son of a bitch." He said.

"Oooo. Kiss your mother with that mouth?" Fury said.

"Avengers, those who can be spared make their way to my position. We need help loading the civilians on lifeboats."

Wanda looked over at Felicity. "Go. I will stay with Ultron's device."

Felicity nodded and made her way to Steve. There was a large helicarrier with multiple smaller ships…lifeboats, which were floating next to the still rising city. Felicity could see Tony and War Machine flying around protecting the boats from Ultron.

"This is Black Widow. I've cleared all the civilians out of the lower end of the city. They're coming your way, Cap."

"I'm going to do a sweep to check-" Clint said.

"Already got it covered." Barry and Pietro said.

"Why two?" Clint groaned. "Wasn't one enough?"

Felicity laughed and began helping people onto the life boats. All ages clamored to board them. Their expressions relieved, terrified, and tearful all at the same time. It was difficult to stop the people from over crowding the life boats. Felicit actually had to restrain one man from jumping into an already full boat so that it could leave. The second and third wave of life boats came and went. They had almost gotten everyone clear when a hysterical woman tried to rush back towards the city, crying and screaming.

"Ma'am," Clint tried to hold her back. Felicity looked in the direction where she was pointing and saw a young boy trapped under the rubble. She ran forward. A shot rang out, and Felicity found herself trapped underneath Steve. The bullet was deflected by his shield. He'd jumped and dragged her out of harm's way. One of Ultron's minions had picked up a machine gun left by the Sokovian military and tried to kill her. Felicity threw one of her stars at it and it exploded on contact.

"Quicksilver, get that kid." Steve ordered. He looked down at Felicity. "What did I say about keeping yourself alive?"

"I've saved you about a hundred times the last couple of days; I figured it was time for you to return the favor." Felicity said, "You're really close right now." she added. Clearing her throat she put her hands on his chest to push him off. Which was a mistake because muscles. Focus, she told herself. The fate of the world is at stake, do not get distracted.

Pietro grabbed the child and returned him to his mother. Then he turned to look disapprovingly at Steve and Felicity. He was about to say something when another shot rang out. He looked down and clutched his stomach.

"NO." Felicity shouted. Pushing Steve off, she ran towards him. She didn't care what the danger was and she ignored Steve calling out behind her. There was an unearthly shriek and a large red explosion from the center of the city and Felicity knew Wanda knew. She grabbed Pietro before he fell and moved him to the life boat. Steve destroyed the robot responsible and the weapon he'd used. Then he joined her and Clint on the lifeboat. Felicity was inspecting the wound.

"Felicity." Pietro murmured. "It is over."

"No." Felicity said stubbornly.

"Mladshaya sestra." Pietro's voice was becoming faint. "At least I got to see you were safe. Take care of Wanda…" He looked at Steve. "Make sure Felicity is safe, Captain Rogers."

Felicity shook her head, refusing to believe what was happening. Then she got an idea.

"We need to get the bullet out."

"Felicity," Steve said gently, trying to pull her away from Pietro. "There's nothing more we can-"

"Help me get the bullet out." She hissed. Taking a deep breath, she plunged her fingers into the wound. A few seconds later she pulled the bullet out. Then she held the wound closed. "Come on." She pleaded. "Please, Pietro." Tears were running down her face.

Pietro lay still, but his breathing became less labored.

"How…" Steve asked.

"Elevated metabolism." Felicity explained. "I remembered something about the other speedster, Barry: he heals quickly. I needed to get the bullet out so the tissue could heal."

Steve grinned and put an arm around her shoulders. "There's a medical facility on the helicarrier. We'll take him there after – "

There was a loud noise from behind them. They turned to see the city begin to fall.

"Tony is this your doing?" Steve asked.

"Why do you always blame me?" Tony whined, "never mind, don't answer that. One of the minions must have activated the device. Is everyone clear?"

"The civilians are." Natasha said. "Hulk's in a small jet and I'm on one of the lifeboats with Flash."

"I've got Felicity, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye." Steve said.

"WANDA." Felicity shouted. "She's still in the city." She made to jump off the lifeboat. Steve grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.

"She can't fly." Felicity insisted.

"Neither can you." Steve growled with the effort of having to restrain her. They watched as the city began descending. Then, floating about it, was Vision holding Wanda against him.

"She's fine." Steve said. Felicity collapsed in relief. Steve looked over at Pietro who was still unconscious. "We're all okay."

Felicity felt the fatigue of the battle over take her. Leaning against Steve, she didn't fight him when he picked her up and walked over to take a seat. She gratefully fell asleep, her head pressed against his chest.


	17. Chapter 17

The next few days passed like a blur. Ultron had been completely scrubbed from the internet by Vision and all his bodies had been destroyed by the Avengers. He was truly gone. Tony had relocated the Avengers to an old Stark weapons factory in upstate New York. Felicity, Wanda, and Pietro had decided to join the team on a permanent basis. Thor had gone back to Asgard and Clint had disappeared. Before he'd left, he told Felicity that if she was ever overwhelmed to tell Natasha she felt like farming.

"Nat'll know what you mean." He said.

"Why are you offering to help me?" Felicity asked. "You barely know me."

"Well, kid, we're a team and a team looks out for each other." He shrugged. "Call it my paternal instinct, but I know a little something about mind control.

Sam had arrived on their first day. He'd immediately pulled Steve aside for a conversation. That night at dinner both of them looked angry and worried. Natasha was silent. There'd been no trace of either Hulk or Dr. Banner after the battle. His plane had been found somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

They'd been at the facility for 3 days when Barry left for Central. He'd nervously knocked on Felicity's door.

"Do you mind if I come in?" He asked.

Felicity shook her head and stood aside.

Barry looked around at the mostly empty room. "This place is huge."

Felicity nodded. "Those of us that have nowhere else to go get bigger apartments." She put a hand to the walls. "I…I don't have anything to put in it or decorate it with." She looked at the floor.

"You do have somewhere else to go." Barry said quietly. "Your apartment in Starling."

Felicity frowned.

"I…I know you don't remember me, but for what it's worth, I'm really happy Cap found you."

"It means a lot." Felicity said.

"And…if you don't want me to tell Team Arrow…" Barry winced. "I'll find a way to avoid the subject. Though Oliver is not going to make it easy."

"Oliver." Felicity said, looking up at the name.

"Do you remember him?" Barry asked.

Felicity thought of the man in her vision. The one who'd pushed her away and rejected her after he'd seen what she was. She knew it was only a vision and that what she'd seen hadn't actually happened, but she wasn't ready to face him quite yet. Not when she didn't know who he was to her. "You can tell them Steve found me, and that I'm safe, but don't tell them where I am."

Barry nodded. "If you ever want to talk, call me; I'll be here in a flash." He winked. "And you're always welcome in Central city. I'm pretty sure Cisco will be dying to make up a code name for you."

Felicity nodded. "Thanks Barry."

He left. A few minutes later Rhodey knocked at the door.

"Hey, Cap's assembling everyone in the training room to go over house rules." She followed him. Wanda and Pietro were there talking to Vision It was the first time Felicity had seen him since the battle. He'd been in the tower infirmary, and had only been brought to the new facility the night before.

"FELICITY!" He zoomed over and picked her up, spinning around. "Wanda said you saved my life." He kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay." Felicity hugged him.

Pietro gave her a calculating look. "Has the Captain been behaving himself? Staying in his own room at night?"

"PIETRO." Felicity hissed as Sam, who'd just walked in, snorted at his comment.

"You can't blame me for worrying." Pietro said, putting Felicity down. "Rogers is a handsome man. He makes smart girls lose their heads."

"Shouldn't you be trying to keep Wanda away from Vision?" Felicity asked. Pietro laughed.

"He's a robot. What can he do?"

Steve walked in, with Natasha behind him.

"Avengers." He called out. "Ass-"

"Dude, we're all here." Sam interrupted. Steve raised an eyebrow. "Sorry." Sam grinned. "Did I ruin your moment?"

"Kinda." Steve said. "Some rules that have to be respected. 1, no revealing the location of the facility to non Avengers. I had to hammer that into Allen's head before he left. I don't care how much…street cred it gets you."

"I taught him that one." Natasha said.

"Impressive." Rhodey said.

"Number 2." Steve said through gritted teeth. "No bringing any lady friends or male friends back to the base."

"Oh darn." Vision said. "There go all my plans."

"The android understands sarcasm." Sam grinned. "Oh, this will be awesome."

"Number 3, no uniforms in public unless there's a mission or an official reason. And no, " He said, anticipating the team's jokes. "Impressing a date does not count."

"Living at the Tower with Tony has ruined you." Rhodey remarked. "We're not going to be able to have any fun."

Steve crossed his arms.

"Any more orders, Captain Party pooper?" Natasha asked, smirking.

Steve sighed, "really Romanov?" Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a bunch of cards. "These are your Avengers Id cards. Tony designed them. If you press this, it'll send a distress signal that'll alert the other Avengers to assemble." He handed them out. "Emergencies only," he added. "And no Sam, the emergency cannot be in your pants."

Felicity looked down at her card. It had a picture of her in uniform and the words, 'Blonde Bombshell' on it.

"Tony did that." Steve explained. "I made him promise to change it once you have an actual codename."

"I don't think I'm actually blonde." Felicity said. "I…think I dyed it before."

Steve tilted his head. "Probably a weird side effect of the serum. I can't get drunk." He turned to the rest of the group. "Nat's going to be running drills today. I need to talk to Felicity and Falcon."

"Oh thank god." Sam said as he followed Felicity and Steve out of the training room. "Romanov's got her kill face on. I do not want to trade places with the others."

"Don't think you can handle what Nat would throw at you?" Felicity asked.

"Hell no." Sam said. "I'm not insane. Some of us weren't gifted with the serum of super endurance."

"Some of us wish we weren't." Felicity murmured. Sam coughed nervously. Steve, who'd been walking ahead, stiffened slightly. Although he hadn't said anything, Felicity realized that he'd been listening to their conversation.

He led them to the rec room. It was full of couches with a pool table, a large fridge, an enormous TV and sound system. Steve motioned to one of the couches.

"You're going to want to sit down." He said. Felicity looked nervously at the couch.

This is it. She thought, they're sending me away. She was seized by a wave of anguish and panic.

"No." Steve said quickly. "Oh god no, why would you even think that?"

"You're stuck with us." Sam said. "In fact, soon you'll be wishing you could escape."

Felicity blushed. "I guess I say my thoughts out loud." She murmured as she sat. Steve handed her a tablet.

"Who is this?" She asked looking at the picture of a scowling woman.

"Amanda Waller." Sam said. "Do you remember her?"

Felicity thought. The name didn't seem familiar, but she felt a twinge of dread. "I…don't know why, but I don't think I liked her."

Sam snorted. "See, even people who don't remember her know she's evil."

"She's the head of an organization called ARGUS and she's ordered…well she doesn't like unknowns she can't control and…" Steve looked nervous and clearly didn't want to share what he knew. "There's no easy way to say this."

Felicity realized what Steve was too horrified to say. "She wants me dead, doesn't she? Did I…did I hurt someone close to her?"

"No." Steve said. "And we won't let her get you. But there's something else you should know." He handed her a file. Felicity opened it. There was a man staring at her; his face guant, haunted. The beginning of the file was written in Russian, but as it went on it changed into English.

"The Winter Soldier." She read, "but that's me."

"You were the second." Steve explained. "Buck…um he was the first."

"Do you know him?" Felicity asked.

Steve nodded.

"Felicity, do you know who I am?" He asked, slowly.

"You're Steve…Rogers." She said, felt a nagging at the back of her brain. There was something she was missing; something she should know.

"Do you know why the other Avengers call me Cap?" Steve said gently.

Felicity frowned. She looked back down at the file, then she noticed the name…and the date of birth. The gears in her head began turning. James Buchanan Barnes. Memories of history class resurfaced. Bucky Barnes, a member of the Howling Commandoes, the only one to die during the war. Best friend of …Captain America. She looked up into the eyes of the man who'd been in every history text book of her childhood.

"How?" She asked before being assaulted by more memories. Video footage of aliens destroying New York City. Captain America fighting alongside the rest of the Avengers. Reports which explained he'd been frozen in the arctic for over 70 years. Her head was reeling. The man who'd been so kind to her was Captain America. She'd known he was kind and good, but… how could she have not realized? And how could she have ever hoped he'd care for a monster like her?

"Felicity" she heard a panicked voice say before she passed out from the pain of her recovered memories.

* * *

"Smooth move, Cap." Sam said. "Do you always have this effect on women?"

"Probably why I can't get a date," Steve muttered as he arranged into a more comfortable position. "Just get me some cold water and a wash cloth." He added as he gently put a pillow under her head. Sam went over to the fridge. Steve pushed a strand of hair from her face.

"She really didn't know." He said.

"She probably didn't remember or make the connection." Sam said. "There's no telling what type of damage Hydra's brainwash did. And believe me, you're a lot to take in. Some days I don't believe it and I go running with you every day."

A small smile played at Steve's lips. "Well, running is a generous description."

Sam rolled his eyes as he came back with a bowl of water and a wash cloth. "I'm pretty sure super serum counts as cheating." He mumbled.

"It also gives me super hearing." Steve said, looking down at Felicity with concern.

"Hey. She's always a bit shaky after she remembers something." Sam said, trying to be reassuring.

"If she's suffering this much after only 2 years…" Steve began

"Don't." Sam said. "Don't even go down that road."

"He's out there going through this alone." Steve said. "There's no telling how badly he's – "

"You and your bleeding heart." Sam growled. "You can't quit being a hero for 2 seconds. We focus on helping Felicity and on the search."

Steve nodded. Pressing the cool wash cloth to her face he happened to glance back at the tablet. It had fallen to the ground and the screen had cracked, but Amanda Waller's face was still scowling up at him. Steve vowed that he wouldn't let any more harm come to Felicity and that nothing would drag her into the darkness again.


	18. Chapter 18

Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow 'just happened' to be visiting Central City when Barry returned.

"Do you have any news on Felicity?" Oliver said.

"Hi Barry, thanks for saving the world from certain peril." Barry said sarcastically.

"Don't give me that." Oliver growled. "Not when I know you know about this." He pulled up a video on one of the STAR lab screens. It was of the battle with Ultron.

"Where did you get this?" Barry asked.

"Lyla gave us covert access to an ARGUS satellite." Oliver growled. He pointed to the screen. "That's Captain America and that's Felicity." He crossed his arms. "You want to explain to me what Felicity is doing fighting a robot uprising next to Captain America? Especially since he led us to believe he didn't know anything about her location."

Barry sighed. "I was going to tell you."

"I'm going to Avengers' Tower." Oliver growled.

"She's not there." Barry said softly. "She's at a secure Avengers base. She's safe"

"She was fighting the rise of the machines in the middle of a flying country." Oliver growled. "Forgive me if I don't believe you." He huffed. "Where's the base?"

"I can't tell you." Barry said. "Even if Cap and Natasha…well mostly Natasha, hadn't threatened painful, horrible, retribution if I ever revealed the location, Felicity doesn't want to see you."

Oliver looked as though he'd been punched in the stomach. Digg and Roy looked at each other nervously. Laurel and Thea looked away, clearly uncomfortable. "She doesn't…want to see me?" Oliver said his voice low.

Barry flinched. "None of you actually. Um…there had to be a better way to say that. She's…different." He took a deep breath. "Hydra really hurt her badly. They took away her memories and every time she tries to remember something it causes her pain. Cap says the memories are coming back on their own slowly, but if she forces…" He trailed off. "She had an episode when she saw me. She went into some type of shock." Barry sat heavily in one of the chairs. "She's also enhanced. Hydra used some type of Captain America Serum knock off to give her enhanced strength, healing, reflexes…" He trailed off. "It's not as good as Cap's, but it works." He pointed to the screen. "See for yourself."

"She's using a Bo staff." Nyssa pointed out. "She clearly remembers Sara."

"I don't know," Barry said. "And I was afraid to ask."

"Seeing us might help her remember who she is." Oliver said stubbornly.

"No." Barry said quietly. "Even after she got over the shock of seeing me…she didn't remember who I was. She still doesn't." He looked at Team Arrow sadly. "She went through a lot of pain, for very few memories. She's not ready to see you and believe me, you aren't ready to see her."

"What's that supposed to me?" Oliver hissed.

"She's different now." Barry felt a wave of frustration in attempting to explain. "When I first saw her, I had trouble accepting her. I…even called her irreparably damaged." He bowed his head in shame. "Cap had to set me straight. There's a very real possibility that she will never be like the Felicity we knew again and Cap says that trying to pressure her to be the Felicity we want her to be isn't going to help." Barry sighed. "She's safe with the Avengers; they'll help her until she's ready to come back." He didn't add that he wasn't optimistic about her ever leaving the Avengers, but Oliver seemed to understand. He glared at Barry.

"Um, fighting robots still doesn't appear safe." Roy said.

"She chose to do that." Barry admitted sheepishly.

"And Cap let her?" Oliver said, his eyes widening slightly.

Barry frowned. "Cap tried to leave her at the Tower, but she snuck on the jet. He decided to trust her judgement rather than keep her bound and gagged in the jet." He ran a tired hand through his hair. "She's more than capable of defending herself and she's on a team with some of the most powerful people in the world…hell the universe. Thor, an actual god, likes her and respects her fighting abilities. And with Waller gunning for her we'll need all the divine support we can get."

Oliver glared and stormed from the lab. Digg followed. Barry sighed.

"Is that another speedster?" Cisco was reviewing the footage.

"Yeah, his name's Pietro, codename Quicksilver." Barry grinned. "He leaves behind a blue streak when he runs."

"Quicksilver. That. Is. AWESOME!" Cisco grinned. "Not…"he added. "More awesome then the Flash, just a different type of awesome."

"He's a pretty cool dude and his sister, Wanda, they call her Scarlet Witch, she's got the most varied and powerful abilities I've ever seen."

"How did they get them?" Caitlin asked. "The powers, I mean."

"Something called an infinity stone." Barry said. "It's some next level space science."

Cisco's eyes grew wide. "Space?" he mouthed.

Barry nodded. Caitlin shared a look with Iris.

"This is the happiest day of his life." Caitlin said.

Iris put a concerned hand on his forehead. "I think he's going into cardiac shock."

* * *

Oliver left the main lab and punched the wall. Letting out a growl of frustration he leaned against the wall and covered his face. Digg came to stand next to him, waiting for him to say something first.

"We're her family." Oliver growled "Not the Avengers. She should be recovering with us."

"If she doesn't want to see us, we have to respect that." Digg said quietly. "Plus Barry's right about Waller being a threat. Lyla's been completely shut out and removed as head of the Suicide Squad. She says they aren't even housed in ARGUS headquarters and have been moved to a covert site. She doesn't know where it is. Waller's mobilizing to do something big so leaving Felicity with the Avengers is our best option….for now." He added as Oliver ground his teeth.

"Why wouldn't see want to see me?" He said softly. He looked pained, dejected.

"Barry says she's different." Digg said quietly. "You have no idea what happened to her during the last 2 years."

Oliver crossed his arms. He looked thoughtful, then his shoulders slumped. "Okay, we focus on Waller for the time being." He looked at Digg. "We still have that contact on the inside right?"

Digg's mouth tightened. "Yes." He said gruffly. "I believe we do."

* * *

Amanda Waller walked into the new Task Force X facility.

"Hey, Boss lady." Floyd Lawton was sitting with his feet up on a chair, cleaning his fingernails with a knife. "Not that I'm complaining about the new digs, but what did we do to deserve the upgrade?"

Waller ignored him. "I'd like to introduce the newest members of our team."

"It's cute how you say 'our'." Harley said in a sing-song voice as she turned a cartwheel. "It makes us sound like a real family." She turned to Cupid and Dead shot and wagged her finger. "Be good now, or Mama Waller will make you go BOOM without dessert." She threw her head back and laughed.

Lawton looked down at the knife in his hands. "It would be so easy." He muttered. "Then I could get some quiet around here."

"I'll do it babe." Cupid leaned over the table and squeezed his hand. Lawton flinched away. He looked at Waller.

"Anytime you want to flip that kill switch, I'm game."

Waller turned to the shadows and the 3 new members stepped forward.

"Ooooo." Harley clapped her hands. "Hello, muscles."

Slade Wilson glared at her.

"This is Slade Wilson, codename Deathstroke." Waller said. "And these are Sinthea Schmidt and Dr. Johann Fennhoff III code name Sin and Doctor Faustus."

"Doctor?" Harley looked suspicious. "What type?"

"Therapist." Faustus said in a thick Austrian accent. Harley's expression turned to outrage. She let out an indignant squawk. Walking straight up to Faustus, she poked him in the chest.

"Listen here, Fausy-Poo. There's only room for one Psycho-therapist on this team."

"Dr. Quinzel." Waller said. "Settle down." She walked over to the center of the room. Holding up a remote, she activated a screen. "I have a mission for you." She said. 2 photos came up of a man and a woman in identical black outfits with masks and goggles. "These are 2 operatives both known as the Winter Soldier. Hydra's been using them to murder countless targets. Their reign of terror ends now."

"Mmmm." Harley looked at the picture of the man. "He looks yummy. Shame we're going to have to kill them."

"Who are they?" Deadshot asked, disinterestedly twirling the knife between his fingers. Waller looked at him suspiciously.

"I like to know what names I'm planning on adding to my collection." Lawton indicated the tattoos on his arms which covered the majority of his body.

"James Barnes and "

"Felicity Smoak." Slade interrupted Waller. He was standing in front of the screen looking hungrily at the image of the female Winter Soldier.

"As soon as we have a location on either of them, I'm sending you in." Waller said. "Your orders are to eliminate them."

"Guess I'd better get my needles ready." Lawton muttered.

Cupid leered at him. "You're so hot when you're murderous."

"I'll be in my quarters." Lawton looked at Cupid in disgust before leaving. Shutting the door, he surveilled the new room. It was much larger than the old cell they'd given him at ARGUS headquarters. Saluting the security camera in the corner, he turned his back and began undressing. "Agent Michaels." He murmured as he bent over to pull down his pants. "I hope you got all that, because things are worse than we thought." He knew Diggle wouldn't approve of the striptease, but this was the only excuse he could come up with to hide his face from the camera.

He tapped his cybernetic eye twice, hoping the bug Lyla had planted in there was still active.

* * *

 **AN:**

Here's a roster of who I've included in the Suicide Squad

Dead Shot (Floyd Lawton. His motives for helping Digg and Team Arrow will be explained later)

Harley Quinn (Because she's awesome and she just had to be included)

Cupid (Carrie Cutter. She's fun. Plus she and Harley are either going to end up as besties or they're going to kill each other. Probably both

Slade (We know him, we love him, he's evil and awesome. He's too good of a baddie to keep down for too long)

Doctor Faustus (Johann Fenhoff. I'm taking a few liberties with this character as he has already been introduced in the MCU. He's a therapist with mind control powers and for now that's all I'm going to say)

Sin (Sinthea Schmidt. In the comics she's Red Skull's daughter and an enemy of Captain America)

And that is our Marvel/DC mash up suicide squad.


	19. Chapter 19

Felicity groaned and tried to sit up.

"Easy." Steve's voice was calm, reassuring. She felt him put something cool to her forehead. "You passed out." He gently helped her sit.

Felicity opened her eyes. "There was this…school project." She murmured. Steve gave her a bemused look. "I got into a fight with Tracy Richardson because we both wanted to do you. A project on you, I mean. It wasn't a fight, fight. There were some pretty strong words exchanged before the teacher broke it up. I ended up having to do my project on…" She looked at the Winter Soldier file. "On Bucky Barnes." She let out a humorless laugh. "I guess that's ironic." She looked at Steve. "You're…Captain America."

Steve lowered his eyes. "I should have told you earlier." He said softly. "I guess I just…it's been so long since someone's thought of me as Steve before they thought of me as Captain America." He snorted. "I liked it too much to let it go."

Felicity drew her knees up. "Steve, you…you can't mean that."

"What?" Steve looked at her in confusion. "That I want people to like me for who I am?"

"That you enjoy being around someone like me." Felicity bit her lip. "I understand, you're helping me because of your friend and you feel like you owe it to him to –"

"That's not true." Steve said quickly.

"I'm a monster, Steve: a murderer." She said bitterly.

"Not by choice." Steve said. "I would never hold what Hydra forced you to do against you." He took her hands. "What's past is past. It's the choices you made now that matter." He gave his hands a slight squeeze. "And if you ever feel like you're in danger of making the wrong ones, you can always come to me."

Felicity blushed.

"Felicity." Wanda rushed and gave her a hug. Steve cleared his throat and let go of her hands, leaning back. She hadn't realized how close they were sitting. But Pietro, who'd come in with Wanda, seemed to notice.

"Why were we not informed she was sick?" He asked.

"I'm alright, Pietro." Felicity said. "He was helping me."

"Help?" Pietro said sarcastically. "Is that what they're calling it these days?"

"Pietro." Wanda warned.

"Minimum two head distance between you two." Pietro said.

Natasha walked in. "Since it's the first day, I'll give you a pass for running out on my training session." She stopped in front of the couch. "Next time, I won't be so forgiving."

Pietro and Wanda paled.

"Pizza dinner?" Sam said.

"What is pizza?" Vision floated in, followed by Rhodey.

Sam's jaw dropped, turning to Pietro he said, "Maximoff, I'm going to need you to use your powers for a noble cause and run down to the closest pizza place and get." He looked around, guessing the amount of food each person would consume. "15 pizzas. Use the official Avengers plastic." He handed him a credit card.

Pietro nodded and ran out

Steve sighed. "We're going to have to instate a dietary routine in order to –"

Everyone groaned.

"I guess we can discuss that tomorrow." Steve muttered.

"What's the alcohol situation?" Sam said, looking around the kitchen.

"It's a Stark base." Rhodey said. "You just have to know where to look." He tapped the wall and a panel opened revealing a fully stocked bar. "I shared an apartment with Tony for 3 years during college. I know all his hiding places."

Natasha picked up a bottle of vodka. "Hm." She hummed appreciatively.

"Party time?" Sam suggested.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm in a frat house and not the base of the world's most powerful superhero team."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Beer pong?" She suggested.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "This is living with Tony all over again."

"I've got Rogers." Sam said. Natasha grinned.

"Felicity's with me." She said. "Super soldier serum coupled with Russian alcohol tolerance spells victory."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what beer pong is, but once I learn, you're going down Romanov."

"I would like to play as well." Wanda said. "With Vision as my team partner."

Steve snorted. "Wait until Pietro gets back. He's not going to approve."

"Well in the 21st century, women don't need a male relative's permission." Wanda retorted. Steve held up his hands in defeat.

"A terrible idea, we should definitely go back to the old ways." Pietro said as he came in balancing a large stack of pizzas.

"Don't look at me for support." Steve said. "I personally think the world is a much better place since women's voices began being heard."

"He cried when he watched 'A League of Their Own'." Sam said. "It was beautiful."

"I met some of those women before I was shipped overseas." Steve crossed his arms. "I'm really glad they got the recognition they deserved." He walked over to relieve Pietro of the boxes.

Natasha sat next to Felicity as the others scrambled for food. Felicity had picked up the file.

"I see he told you about Barnes." Natasha said softly. Felicity nodded. "Don't." she said.

"Don't what?" Felicity asked.

"You've got self-loathing written all over your face." Natasha said. "I'm familiar with the feeling." She looked at Steve. "He's somehow a better man than people realize. But that doesn't mean you deserve him any less."

Felicity looked at her in surprise.

"Felicity." Pietro called. "You need to eat something."

Steve held out a plate. Felicity walked over and took it gratefully. Natasha watched the two stand and make awkward small talk and sighed. "You dorks are in desperate need of my help, aren't you?"

* * *

"We've been monitoring Waller ever since she tried to squash the video of Felicity and the scientist." Oliver explained. The team had assembled in the arrow cave. "We had Lyla implant a bug in Deadshot's cybernetic eye. Lawton alerted Lyla to something being wrong weeks before the video. Waller's been ordering more kills than ever. She doesn't seem interested in expanding her team. Until last night."

He pulled up the footage from Lawton's eye. The team crowded around the computer screen. "I still don't know why we're trusting this guy." Captain Lance grumbled.

"Lawton doesn't trust Waller and doesn't want to finger on the detonation button to be that of a crazy person." Lyla explained. "Any port in a storm and thanks to him we now know that Felicity isn't the only target." She shifted uncomfortably. "And that Waller's brought in some new players." The image on screen was that of Slade Wilson and 2 others.

"Their names are Sinthea Schmidt and Johann Fennhoff." Digg said, pointing to the screen. "And I think we're all familiar with Slade Wilson."

Thea glared at screen while Laurel suppressed a shudder.

"Waller's actions make no logical sense." Nyssa said, frowning. "She was ready to destroy an entire city to stop Slade. Why work with him?"

"Dropping a nuke on a city to eliminate one person isn't logical." Roy pointed out. "She's never been the most rational person and I see no reason as to why we expect it from her now."

"So what's our plan now?" Laurel asked.

"We take this information to the people who are in the best position to do something about it." Digg said. Oliver frowned at him. Digg rolled his eyes. "We need to alert the Avengers."

* * *

AN:

A League of their Own is a movie about the female Major League Baseball team during WWII. Since all the men were shipped overseas, the women stepped up to the plate...literally and formed their own baseball league. I can definitely see Steve cheering them on.


	20. Chapter 20

Setting up a meeting with Tony Stark had been nothing short of annoying. The billionaire had refused because he'd wanted proof that they were 'worth his time'. It wasn't until Oliver had gotten angry and blurted out that the information they had involved Felicity, that he caved. He'd sent an Avenge-jet to meet them at Ferris Air and take Oliver, Digg, Thea, and Roy to the Tower. Laurel and Nyssa had stayed behind to guard the city.

They were led to a lab. Stark was there, wearing a large welding helmet and using an enormous blowtorch, which he turned off when they walked through the door.

"So, what information do you have on the Blonde Bombshell?"

"The what?" Oliver said, just as Digg said. "Who?"

"Winter Soldier, Barbie." Tony said. He lifted his welding helmet. "Oooo FRIDAY, put down Winter Soldier Barbie as a possible marketing idea for the kid's line of Avengers merchandise."

Oliver and Digg shared incredulous looks. Turning back to Stark, with the intention of giving him an angry retort, Oliver caught sight of the 'experiment' he was working on.

"Is…that a grilled cheese sandwich?" He asked.

Tony looked down and frowned. "Ever since Ultron, I'm allowed to science and Pepper took away my toys." He motioned to the rest of the lab, which Oliver noted was mostly full of empty work stations. "Some ridiculousness about endangering the fate of humanity. So I am currently perfecting the art of grilled cheese sandwiches." He held the plate out to Digg. "Want to try?"

"No thanks." Digg said, bemused.

Tony shrugged. "Suit yourself." He took a bite. "So, about Smoakie."

Oliver pulled a flash drive out of his pocket. Tony looked at it in disgust. "You come into my tower, reject my culinary expertise and hand me lower grade tech?" he shook his head. "Does no one have manners anymore? FRIDAY, scan that fossil please and up load all files to the computer." He threw Oliver a cheeky grin. "I hope there's nothing dirty on there, because I'm going to see it all."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "The drive's clean."

Tony pouted. "I never get any fun."

"Upload complete, sir." The computer said.

"Thanks Fri-fri." Tony said. "Put all files pertaining to the Winter Soldier for me to review later and send a duplicate copy to Cap." He turned back to team Arrow. "Thanks for this. Bye"

"What?" Oliver said. "We came all this way for that?"

"Yup." Tony grabbed his blowtorch. "Unless you've changed your mind about that grilled cheese."

"Felicity's in danger, and all you're doing is blow torching cheese." Oliver hissed.

Tony leaned back in his chair. "Pro tip; speak softly when the other guy is carrying a blow torch. If you were paying attention, I just had FRIDAY send the information to Cap, as in Captain America; the leader of the Avengers. They'll handle it from here."

"Felicity's a member of our team." Digg said.

"Was, a member of your team." Tony corrected, taking another bite of his sandwich. "We all saw how well that worked out. And where was this spirit of cooperation when the Avengers approached you to help take down Brickwell 2 years ago?"

Oliver's expression darkened. Thea stepped forward. "We thought we could handle it on our own." She said, attempting to diffuse the tension.

"Um, how many people died?" Tony asked. "And I believe the exact words you so eloquently used were go –"

"How many people died because of Ultron?" Oliver interrupted. Tony froze with his mouth wide open, his fingers twitched. Seeing the growing anger between the two, Thea moved to stand between them.

"Mr. Stark, we're sorry we didn't accept your help with Brickwell and if that offended you. We all really care about Felicity and want to help in any way we can."

Stark's expression softened. "I can't let you onto the base or talk to her without her permission and clearance from Cap, neither of which I have." He said. "But I'll talk to Cap and see if he needs you for anything. In the meantime you can stay in the tower. I'll have FRIDAY open up the guest floors for you." He pointed to the elevator. "Dinner is whenever and Bedtime is never, now I'm extremely busy, so if you don't mind I want to test what happens when I switch the gouda to cheddar ratio." He flipped his welding helmet closed and turned on the blowtorch.

With one last bemused look, Team Arrow left the lab.

* * *

Steve had gone over the information Tony had sent him about 30 times. Rubbing his face, he leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. He'd sealed himself in his quarters when Tony had sent him the video. Rubbing his face, he thought about what he'd seen. ARGUS was now targeting both Felicity and Bucky, but why? What would Amanda Waller gain? Bucky had been off grid since the fall of SHIELD and Felicity…Felicity wasn't a threat to anyone. She was just lost. They both deserved a second chance to rebuild, not be hunted down like animals. He felt the rage build up inside him. What gave Waller the right to pass judgement on who got to live or die?

He stood and activated the communication panel on the wall. "I need to talk to Tony." He said.

"Captain Chill." Tony said, "I was wondering when you'd call me."

"Where did you get this video?" Steve asked.

"Team Arrow. They've got a mole on the Suicide Squad. They're currently at the Tower and they want to help."

"This Slade Wilson…." Steve said. "Why does he seem so familiar with Felicity?"

"He and the Arrow have a history." Tony waved dismissively. "It's the other 2 new members that you might be interested in. I did a little digging…"

Steve listened with growing horror as Tony explained what he'd found. Feeling sick, he leaned against the wall.

"You okay Rogers?" Tony asked.

"I…need to tell the others." Steve said. Tapping a few buttons, he sent out a base wide call.

"Avengers Assemble."


	21. Chapter 21

Felicity rushed into the briefing room. She was second right, behind Natasha.

"Do, you know what the emergency is?" She asked, passing her staff from one hand to the other. Natasha shook her head.

"Cap sounded shaken, though." She said as she snapped on one of her gauntlets. "Whatever it is, is serious."

Sam and Rhodey came in followed by Vision and Wanda. Steve came after. Felicity noted that, unlike the rest of the team, he wasn't in uniform. Sam frowned.

"Should we not have suited up?"

"We need to come up with a code." Rhodey agreed. "Something like; 'Avengers Assemble in style'."

"Or this is not a dress rehearsal." Sam added. "Unless we're introducing, Casual Save the World Fridays."

Just then Pietro zoomed in.

"I'm here." He said. Steve frowned at him.

"I was expecting a better response time from the member of the team with super-speed." He commented. Pietro glared at him and planted himself in between Steve and Felicity.

"Did you assemble us just to test out response time?" Natasha frowned.

"What happened to 'the assemble call is for emergencies only'?" Felicity asked.

Steve shook his head. "This is an emergency." He said softly. Turning to the screen, he said. "We're all here, Stark." Tony's face appeared on the screen.

"Greetings heroes…and Rhodey."

Rhodey rolled his eyes.

"Here's what we know." Tony continued. "About 4 hours ago Team Arrow showed up on my doorstep with this video."

The screen split so one half was only while the other half played some camera footage.

"On the right you're watching images from a bug placed in the optical implant of one Floyd Lawton, alias Deadshot. Former soldier turned mercenary and now member of Task Force X, affectionately known as the Suicide Squad. The blonde is Dr. Harleen Quinzel, alias Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who decided to switch to siting on the couch instead of next to it. The red head is Carrie Cutter, alias Cupid. She's got serious fangirl issues. Never let her meet Hawkeye. But things get really interesting when the Queen of Evil brings in the 3 newest members of the club."

Felicity watched as 3 figures, 2 men and a woman, came into the camera's view. The first man and the woman, she didn't recognize, but the third, the man with the eyepatch, made her blood run cold. Images raced to the front of her mind. The same man in an orange and black mask carrying 2 large swords. Him holding one of the swords to her throat, threatening her…to hurt Oliver.

"Slade." She said softly, gripping her staff and using it to steady herself.

"Smoak?" Tony said. "You okay?" She looked around and the whole team had concerned looks on their faces, Steve especially. She stood up straighter.

"I'm fine." She said, looking directly at Tony. "Who are the other 2?"

Tony grimaced. "That's where things get interesting. Waller calls the woman Sinthea Schmidt. The problem is there's only one person on record who matches the name and description and she disappeared after the end of WW2. Sinthea Schmidt was the name of the daughter of a man named Johann Schmidt, or as the history books call him, Red Skull." Tony pulled up an image of a young woman who was identical to the one in the video.

"Her disappearance coincides with Dr. Arnim Zola's release from prison." Steve explained. "Zola was a Hydra scientist who was the lead on the Winter Soldier project."

"Facial recognition is a 100% match. She's either a clone or the same person." Tony said.

Felicity stepped closer to the screen, taking in the cold detached mask of Schmidt's facial expression. A cold look very similar to the one she'd worn as the Winter Soldier. "Do you think she's like me?" She asked.

Steve shook his head. "No." He said firmly. "I'm willing to bet she's enhanced, but as Red Skull's daughter she'd have been heir to the Hydra leadership. She's probably been groomed to rule, while the Winter Soldier's job was to…" he broke off and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Be a faceless killer." Felicity finished.

Steve bit his lip. Natasha face palmed. "Smooth." She muttered

"My bet." Tony said, either unaware of the awkward situation, or ignoring it. "Is that they kept her on ice for the moment they could step out and take over."

"They probably thought project insight was their big moment and thawed her out too early." Sam said.

"The lesson to be learned is never count your evil chickens before they're hatched." Tony said. "She probably wants revenge against the man who screwed up her big coronation day…and I guess the fact that Rogers also killed her father doesn't help. Things get worse when you consider Doctor Faustus. I had Maria pull a few strings with some old SHIELD contacts who have access to the old SSR files."

"Who?" Natasha asked.

"Aparently I'm not allowed to know." Tony grumbled. "Anyways according to their intel this guy is the grandson of another man named Johann Fennhoff who was a Leviathan agent. He infiltrated the SSR and killed the director before he was captured by a Margaret Carter."

"Peg." Steve murmured softly.

"Apparently he had this way of persuading people to do anything he wanted. His victims were often completely unaware of where they were and what they were doing until it was too late."

"What is Leviathan?" Wanda asked.

"An early version of the Red Room." Natasha said. Wanda's eyes widened. Whatever she'd seen in Natasha's vision must have been horrible, because Felicity had never seen her so pained.

"Faustus is probably still holding a grudge against Carter, so…" Tony looked pointedly at Steve.

"Tony and I believe he's targeting Bucky to get to me." Steve finished. "We also believe that Waller isn't the head of this operation. Though she's involved, it's very possible that Fennhoff and Schmidt are calling the shots."

"How does Felicity fit into all of this?" Pietro asked. "No one knows about her connection to Captain Rogers."

"Wilson." Tony said, glancing at Felicity. "He's former Australian military turned secret agent. He disappeared in the north China sea a few years back only to reemerge as Deathstroke. He then went up against the Arrow when he tried to destroy Starling about 2 years ago."

"I helped Oliver take him down." Felicity said. "He was injected with something called Mirakuru." She was surprised at how quickly the memories were returning. "Oliver and I tricked him and I injected him with a cure. It's…"Felicity faltered. "If I remember correctly it's a Japanese super serum developed during WW2."

Tony looked over at Steve. "Everyone wanted their own Captain America."

"A cure?" Steve said softly.

"The serum was dangerous. Most people who took it died." Felicity explained. "Those that didn't suffered horrible physical deformities or mental breakdowns. The woman he loved was murdered and Wilson…he lost his mind and blamed Oliver."

"You remembered all that?" Tony looked impressed.

"Of course she did." Steve said, giving her a look of pride.

"Well. Team Arrow thinks that the Cap hating duo wants to use the cure to take down Rogers and have some sort of agreement with Wilson to give him Felicity." Tony explained. "I've contacted Team Flash and they're sending me a sample. I'm going to test it against a sample of Steve's blood and one of Felicity's. Odds are, we have nothing to worry about." He said, attempting to be positive. "I've also got a plan."

Steve raised an eyebrow.

"Don't look like that Rogers, you don't have a monopoly on plans." Tony huffed. "In order to be able to take down Waller, we'll need a man on the inside."

"Or a woman." Wanda, Felicity, and Natasha said simultaneously.

"Except this time, it's a man." Tony said. "More specifically, me."

"We already have Deadshot." Steve pointed out.

Tony shook his head. "Lawton's a foot soldier. He doesn't know anything besides what Waller wants him to know."

Rhodey frowned. "Tony…"

"What makes you think they'll trust you?" Natasha asked.

"Simple, they need to believe I have a motivation to betray Cap." A shadow passed over Tony's face. "And I do."

"Tony-" Steve began.

"I don't blame Barnes." Tony continued. "But the fact remains that it makes sense that the person who'd want him dead would be the man whose parents he killed. Plus I figure that creating a murderous, world destroying robot gives me some type of villain cred. Add that to the fact that it's not exactly a secret that Rogers and I don't always agree…"

Steve was shaking his head. "It's too risky."

"See, we're enemies already." Tony grinned.

"You're not doing it, Tony." Steve frowned.

Tony snorted. "Funny thing about no longer being an active member of the Avengers; I don't have to listen to your orders." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "Though, let's be honest, I would have probably ignored you before anyways." He looked Steve straight in the eyes. "I'm doing this. We've all lost too much to Hydra already."

Steve crossed his arms, still contemplating Tony's idea. Finally he sighed. "If you do manage to convince them, the information you could gather would be very valuable." He frowned. "I'm just not convinced of your undercover skills."

"That's where my charm and winning personality come in." Tony grinned.

Rhodey shook his head while Natasha arched an eyebrow.

"Hey." Tony bristled with indignation as he took in the team's apparent disbelief. "I'll have you know that I'm quite good at convincing people to trust me, Rhodey tell them."

Rhodey sighed. "As much as I hate to admit it, Tony did always have a way of talking anyone, even people who hated him, into doing his bidding."

"Remember New Orleans?" Tony's smile was mischievous. Rhodey glared at him.

"I remember us agreeing to never talk about it, ever."

"See, Cap." Tony said. "I'm a natural. Operation Evil Tony is a go." He paused. "Also, Smoak, team Arrow wants to know whether or not they can speak to you any time soon."

Felicity's eyes widened. She felt dizzy. "Um." She said.

"Tony." Steve admonished. Coming to stand beside Felicity, he put his hand on her shoulder. She leaned closer to him, his presence steadying her.

"What?" Tony asked. "She's a big girl; you worry about her too much."

"You can't just put her on the spot like that." Sam said. "If she wants to talk to them it should be because she's ready to, not because she feels she has to."

Tony held up his hands. "Alright, alright, forget I said anything." He began stroking his chin. "I think I'm going to need to sculpt my facial hair into something more evil."

"This isn't Halloween Tony." Rhodey said. Tony waved and cut the transmission

"He's treating this like a damn game. I guess I need to call Pepper." Rhodey sighed. "There's no way she's okay with this."

The rest of the team filed out. Pietro was about to say something to Felicity when Wanda used her powers to pull him out of the room. Felicity and Steve were left alone.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked.

Felicity nodded slowly. "I don't know why I reacted that way. They're my friends…at least they were, I don't know why I'm worried about seeing them." She put her staff, mask and goggles on the table in the center of the room. Taking a moment to center herself, she asked. "Do you think that cure would work on me?"

"Do you want it too?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." She murmured. "I'm scared that I don't know how badly Hydra messed with my mind and body, but at the same time…"

"You're worried that taking a cure might make it worse." Steve said. She nodded.

"What were you like before the serum?" She asked. "I mean, I know what the history books say, I sort of googled you last night, in a non creepy way, but none of them said how you…" She blushed and trailed off. Steve gave her a small smile.

"I was shorter." He said. "Shorter than you even. The serum quite possible saved my life. It was a miracle that I lived as long as I did, because I was always sick and constantly getting myself into fights."

Felicity giggled.

"I drove Bucky up the wall; he always had to rescue me." Steve smiled. "He'd always say, 'that's the last time I save your ass punk. It's not worth messing up my pretty face for'."

"He sounds like a good friend." Felicity said softly.

Steve nodded.

"Do you ever think about…the fact that he won't be the same?" Felicity asked. "That after everything he's gone through he probably won't be…" She stopped when Steve looked down.

"At first," he admitted, "I wanted find him so I could…save him and bring him back." He shook his head. "But meeting you made me realize that…it's going to take time for him to be ready to see me. I want to help him in any way I can, but I can't push." He smiled.

Felicity blushed. "Thanks?"

Steve cleared his throat. "So, about this cure…"

Felicity felt a stab of disappointment. "Um…" She shifted away slightly.

"Just don't worry about it. We don't even know if it works." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Thanks…" Felicity looked down. "I should go change…" She motioned to her uniform. "I kinda look silly."

"No." Steve said. "You look…um…it's good that you were on time and dressed for an emergency."

Felicity nodded slowly. "I'll just…" She pointed towards the door.

"Sure." Steve motioned.

"Okay." She turned. "I'll see you…"

"At dinner." Steve said.

She left the briefing room.

* * *

"Did he seriously just complement her punctuality?" Sam hissed. He and Natasha were hiding in an equipment closet, watching the entire exchange on a tablet. "He's terrible at this."

"He mentioned her outfit…" Natasha said. Sam snorted. "Well, he tried to anyways." She said.

"She's as clueless as he is."

"Considering the fact that she's coming down off of 2 years of Hydra brainwash, I say we give her a pass." Natasha said. "They need us."

They watched as Steve looked at the door Felicity had just closed. He let out a sigh of frustration and looked thoroughly annoyed with himself. Running a hand through his hair he turned back to the screens to do more background research on the Suicide Squad.

"It's official, Operation Captain Smoak is a go." Sam said.

"No to the stupid code name." Natasha rolled her eyes.

Sam pouted and was about to retort when the closet door was ripped open. Rhodey stood in the door way his arms crossed.

"This…isn't what it looks like." Sam said, quickly.

"Of course it itsn't." Rhodey snorted. "You don't have that type of game." He looked at the tablet. "And apparently, neither does Rogers."

"How's Pepper?" Natasha asked.

"Understandably furious, but Maria agreed to give Tony undercover lessons to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Rhodey looked down at the tablet. "I want in, what's our play?"

"Our?" Natasha said. "I'm already not so sure it was a good idea to include flyboy."

"I've seen Pepper and Tony dance around each other for too long. I can recognize the signs. Rogers and Smoak have it bad and I'll be damned if I let those idiots take years to wise up." He looked around the closet. "Though we may need a better meeting area."

Natasha looked at him in disgust. "And you think Tony's the one who needs undercover lessons?"

"What do you think of the codename: Captain Smoak?" Sam asked.

"Ridiculous…it's too long and obvious, we need something more covert." Rhodey said. Sam gave him a high-five.

"Children." Natasha groaned. "I'm dealing with children." She stood and left the closet. Pietro zipped down the hall. He did a double take and came back to stand in front of the door way. Shooting a questioning look at Natasha, he smirked at Sam and Rhodey.

"Do I want to know?" He asked.

Natasha shrugged. "I just found them here."

"This isn't what it looks like." Sam said. "Tell him, Romanov."

Natasha smiled and shook her head. "We all know how it is, we're out here alone and sometimes we might need some…company. There's no shame in it."

Pietro sniggered.

"Funny Nat." Sam shook his head and left. "Really funny." He walked down the hall. "Sometimes I really hate her."

"She heard you." Pietro and Rhodey said.

Sam turned to see Natasha giving him an evil smirk.

"See you in training tomorrow." She said, her voice saccharine.

Sam paled. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Yes." Pietro and Rhodey said simultaneously.


	22. Chapter 22

"I must say I was surprised when you asked for a meeting, Mr. Stark." Amanda Waller was standing in her office at ARGUS headquarters looking out the window. Her back was to her desk. Across from her, Tony sat in one of the chairs, playing with her pens.

"I'm a surprising person." Tony said, nonchalantly. "Life's too short to be predictable."

Waller turned and gave him a calculating look. "Considering your former reticence towards working with the government and your flippant dismial of an alliance with SHIELD, you can understand why I'm skeptical of your desire to join ARGUS."

"Well the thing is, I'm not joining ARGUS." Tony's tone was bored, his eyes glued to the pens in his hands.

"Then why are you here?" Waller asked.

"To offer my help." Tony said. "I'll build you stuff, give you intel, but I'm not joining you. In fact, it would be better for me if no one knew I was connected to you." He raised an eyebrow. "I have a reputation to maintain."

Waller looked confused. "Why should I agree to this deal?"

"Because you'd have to be crazy not to." Tony said. "Though if the rumors are true…" He smirked at her look of indignation.

"What do you get out of it?" Waller asked.

"First, let me tell you a story." Tony said, leaning backwards. "Once upon a time, there was a young boy with two parents. One day his parents were killed in a tragic accident. Years later the boy, who'd grown into a kick ass superhero, found out that it wasn't an accident. His parents had been cruelly murdered." He put down the pen. "About a month ago my team found a beautiful, but crazy Hydra assassin named the Winter Soldier. Because I have a bad habit of taking in stray assassins, we brought her back to the tower and tried to help rehabilitate her. It was then that I learned that you had a kill order on our mutual friend. Which is messed up, she's mostly harmless now. She follows Cap and Romanov around like a lethal Labrador." He stood and walked over to the chair behind the desk. "Ooo, this one's nicer." He said as he sat down. "Anyways, it was later that I discovered that Rogers has been trying to find the original winter soldier. I confronted him and things got ugly. He, Romanov, Wilson, and Winter Soldier 2.0 took off and went into hiding."

He spun the chair around. "I want to help you, Ms. Waller, because when I hacked into your organization to discover what information you had on Felicity, I found out that you're also tracking the original Winter Soldier, James Barnes. Cap and his followers are trying to allow the man who killed my parents escape justice. I'll give you whatever help you need, if you promise to give me his head on a platter."

"If Rogers really has gone underground," Waller said. "Then what makes you think you can stop him from finding Barnes."

Tony crossed his arms. "I'm not showing all my cards until I meet the real power of this operation."

There was a pause and for a moment Tony thought he might have miscalculated, then a side door opened and Sinthea Schmidt and Doctor Faustus entered. Faustus was clapping slowly.

"Very good, Mr. Stark." He said. 'It is gratifying to see that your intellect is as sharp as they say."

"Sharper." Tony snarked. "Also I have no idea who you are; you must not be very big in the villain world, because I know everyone who's worth knowing."

"We like it that way." Sin said. "You may leave, Waller."

Waller left the office. Tony whistled.

"I'll bite, spinal clamps? Bee pheromones? Voodoo?"

"Persuasion, Mr. Stark.' Doctor Faustus smiled. "Nothing more than simple persuasion."

"Huh." Tony said.

"Allow me to introduce myself." Faustus extended a hand. "Johann Fenhoff III."

"Tony Stark, but you already knew that. Also I have this thing about touching." He looked at Faustus' hand with disgust. "How do I know you won't try and…persuade me?"

"I do not believe that will be necessary just yet." Faustus said, motioning behind him, he said. "This is my associate Sinthea Schmidt."

Tony gave her a nod, but only got a glare in response.

"Now to business." Doctor Faustus said. "What makes you think you can find Captain Rogers?"

Tony pulled out a picture of Felicity. Faustus looked at it in surprise.

"You just informed Waller that she was harmless."

"She is, and she's worth much more alive than you realize." Tony said. "You see, Rogers has grown quite fond of her and it's only a matter of time before she leads him to his own destruction." He gave the two his best evil grin. "Before she was the Winter Soldier, she was Felicity Smoak and before she took off with Rogers, she was beginning to remember her identity. Pretty soon she'll begin to want answers. Answers she won't find in whatever forest Rogers has decided to hide her in. She'll have to go looking for them." he paused for dramatic effect. "You need me, because the people who have those answers are currently living at my Tower and happen to trust me."

Sin and Doctor Faustus shared a look.

"Perhaps Deathstroke's request for her immediate death can be postponed." Faustus said. "Or," his eyes lit up cruelly. "Perhaps he can be persuaded to add motivation for Rogers to rescue her. A pretty face like hers twisted with the pain of torture should make the good Captain come running."

Tony suppressed a shudder. "I like the cut of your evil gib. In the meantime, I've done you an enormous favor and made it impossible for Rogers to go anywhere without difficulty."

"How?" Sin said, skeptically.

Tony smirked. "I used my evil brains." He tapped his phone. A few seconds later Waller's computer began playing a news broadcast. As Faustus and Sin watched, the news anchor explained that it was believed that the disappearance of Felicity Smoak was caused by none other than Captain America. There was the footage of Steve carrying an unconscious Felicity on the day they first found her.

"Steve Rogers is now public enemy number 1." Tony explained to the two shocked villains. "That broadcast was from this morning and already CNN is on 24 hour Cap watch and Fox news is blaming it on millennials and the legalization of gay marriage. Either way, he can't so much as say the pledge of allegiance in public without the authorities descending on him."

"You came up with this yourself?" Sin asked, trying to disguise the fact that she was impressed.

"Yes, because I'm evil." Tony said. "And a genius. An evil genius."

"Thank you Mr. Stark." Faustus grinned. "We'll be in touch."

Tony smiled. "Until next time, my comrades in evil." He left.

"So." He said when he got onto the Stark Jet. "How did I do?"

Maria and Pepper both glared at him.

"You do realize that the entire country is now convinced that Steve is some kind of sexual sadist who likes to kidnap young women?" Maria said.

Tony shrugged. "Eh, we can do damage control after we capture the bad guys."

"Remind me again why we can't just go into ARGUS headquarters and take Waller out?" Pepper said.

Tony gasped. "Pep, I am shocked at your shamelessly violent suggestion." He sat down at the controls. "We can't because the Avengers aren't exactly getting the best press coverage since Ultron and attacking a government building isn't the best way to win any popularity contests." He sighed. "Also it's really clear that Waller's being controlled by Faustus. She's probably not aware of what she's doing. So we're playing this by the rules."

Maria snorted. "Fyi repeating the word evil every two seconds doesn't make you a more convincing villain. This isn't a cartoon."

"I wouldn't expect a goody two shoes like you to understand the lingo." Tony retorted as he prepared the jet for takeoff. "Now, which one of you two lovely ladies wants to call the good captain and tell him he's now a fugitive from justice?"


	23. Chapter 23

It was Sam's turn to run the training session. Standing in the center of the gym he tossed a large red ball in the air. "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of our dear Captain Rogers." He taunted.

Steve snorted. "Not likely."

"I assume." Sam continued. "That you're all familiar with this?" He held up the ball he was holding.

Rhodey rolled his eyes. "You're talking to 2 Sokovians, an android, and a Russian assassin. I'm willing to bet none of them suffered through a middle school gym class.

"It's a dodge ball." Felicity said.

"Correct." Sam said. "After the super fun training session we had yesterday, I figured we'd try something a little less civilized."

Natasha chuckled darkly. "I'm going to remember that, Falcon. And I'll have you know that Barton taught me how to play."

"Which is why you and Maximoff the elder," Sam motioned to Pietro, "aren't allowed to play. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of us."

Pietro pouted. "It is not fair." He huffed as he went to the sidelines.

"Rogers and I are team captains." Sam continued. "And I expect team Falcon to kick some star spangled butt." Steve came to stand beside him. Sam pulled a coin out. "Heads or tails?"

"Heads." Steve said.

Sam tossed it into the air and caught it. "Tails, I go first." Steve grabbed the coin.

"This coin only has tails." He said.

Sam looked at it in mock surprise. "Well what do you know?" He smirked. "I still get first pick."

"Well I wouldn't want it said I didn't let you have a fair shot." Steve grinned.

"Is it just me or does your Brooklyn accent get stronger when you trash talk?" Sam muttered. "Vision."

Steve gave each player a calculating look. "Scarlet Witch."

Felicity and Rhodey looked at each other.

"I'm getting the sense that I was usually picked last during these things." Felicity said.

"I spent most of the time protecting Tony's stupid face." Rhodey said.

It was Sam's turn to choose. "Milady de Winter." He said. Felicity went to stand on his side of the court.

"Milady de Winter?" Steve asked.

"Ever read the 3 Musketeers?" Sam asked. "That would have been the hot new read in your day."

Steve shook his head. "We'll see who's laughing once you lose. War Machine."

Rhodey went to stand on Steve's side. Sam put the ball down in the center. Everyone moved to stand on opposite sides of the training area.

"Okay the rules are as follows. No head shots. No flying. No weapons, Felicity put that knife away. No mind games. If I see a hint of red Maximoff it's an automatic disqualification. Vison, no jewel blasts." Sam said. "And go easy on Cap, his old bones can't take too much strain."

Natasha blew the whistle. Vision and Steve ran forward, Steve got there first and grabbed the ball.

"Hey Wilson." Steve said as Vision moved backward to get out of firing range. "On your left." Steve threw the ball as hard as he could. Sam dove out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit.

"HA!" he said. Just as Wanda grabbed the ball and hit him in the stomach.

"Out." Wanda said.

"Ouchie." Sam whimpered as he picked himself off the floor. Going over to stand next to Pietro and Natasha he gave Steve the finger. Steve only laughed before ducking to avoid a ball thrown by Vision.

The next five minutes were brutal. Vision took out Rhodey. Wanda got Vision. Letting her guard down to taunt him, she wasn't paying attention when Felicity pegged her in the shoulder.

"So I guess it's just the two of us." Steve said. He'd picked up the ball when Wanda went to stand with the others. He casually tossed it from one hand to the other.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Felicity said.

Steve calmly continued tossing the ball.

"Scared?" he asked.

"Only that I'll bruise your ego." Felicity retorted.

"That's my girl." Sam shouted from the sidelines. "Show him who's boss."

"I don't bruise easy, doll." Steve grinned. "But you're more than welcome to try."

"Doll?" Felicity asked.

"Um." Steve turned red and fumbled, dropping the ball. It rolled to the other side of the court. Felicity ran forward and grabbed it. Tossing it, she hit him in the side.

"Out." She said.

"Team Falcon wins!" Sam and Vision highfived each other.

"Team Felicity wins." Pietro corrected. "You barely did anything."

"Ready for round 2 Rogers?" Natasha asked.

"Nah," Sam said, smirking at Steve. "It's probably naptime, people his age need their sleep."

"None of us would think any less of you if you wanted to quit." Vision added. "With your advanced years, you've had more than enough exercise for one day."

Steve's mouth dropped open. Felicity giggled.

"I taught him that." Sam grinned.

"Considering that I was partially programmed by Tony Stark, I'd estimate there's quite a few things I could teach you when it comes to insults." Vision said.

"Burn." Rhodey grinned, Sam rolled his eyes.

Natasha's phone rang. "Hey Barton, how's farm life?...what?" She looked at Steve. "and people believe it?"

Rhodey's phone buzzed. "Text from Tony, he says 'tell Cap I'm sorry'…for what?"

Steve frowned. Natasha hung up. "I…may have an answer." She motioned for him to follow her into the briefing room. "Wilson, you might want to come too."

Natasha shut the door behind them and turned on a news broadcast.

"Captain America: Hero or Monster?"

"Tony Stark is a dead man" Sam growled as the broadcast showed pictures of him and Natasha as associates.

"I've been accused of worse." Natasha shrugged.

"My mom's probably watching this." Sam hissed. "How's she going to feel when she sees her son being blamed of kidnapping and holding a woman prisoner for 2 years?"

"Tony is a genius." Steve said softly. He was staring at the screens, transfixed.

Sam and Natasha looked at him in shock.

"Well there's something I never thought I'd hear you admit out loud." Natasha said.

"Did you miss the part where we're CRIMINALS?" Sam asked. "I can't go to prison."

Natasha snorted. "A pretty boy like you will have tons of friends." Sam frowned at her.

"Easy for you to say." He grumbled. "You'll probably be running the joint.'

Tony's a genius." Steve said, cutting off their conversation. "Because he just ensured that Waller's team won't endanger Felicity's mom."

The screens were showing a press conference where a blonde woman was pleading with Captain America to give her her daughter back. She was standing in front of Avengers Tower. Behind her, Oliver Queen and John Diggle stood, with stony expressions. The woman, who had been identified as Donna Smoak, broke down in tears and was led off to the side as Tony took center stage.

"Right now, we're all struggling to understand how something like this could have happened." He looked at the camera, his expression pained, hurt. "I'm offering Donna Smoak my protection to make sure no one hurts her as well. I'm sure the authorities are doing everything they can to make sense of these events. If Captain Rogers is out there, I hope he realizes the severity of what he has done."

"He's having way too much fun with this." Natasha grumbled.

"Mrs. Smoak's face is on every news network and he's just publicly invited her to live at the Tower." Steve said. "Everyone's watching her which means Waller can't use her to hurt Felicity."

"Mom?"

The 3 of them turned to see Felicity standing in the doorway of the briefing room. She was staring at the image of her mother on screen.

"She's alright." Steve said quickly. "Tony's just having her publicly speak out against me because apparently he's convinced everyone that I kidnapped you. Waller can't hurt her."

Felicity bit her lip. "Do you think I could…talk to her? She asked softly.

"Of course." Steve said. "Just call Tony, he's in charge of maintaining safe communications lines." She nodded and left. Steve turned to find Natasha and Sam smirking at him.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh nothing…doll." Natasha said.

"Shut up Romanov." He muttered.

"Wow, salty language." Sam grinned. "That was almost a swear word."

* * *

It was cold that night in New York. Unseasonably cold for late May and colder still for those who living outside. Bucky Barnes shivered and tried to block out the memories which were resurfacing. A news paper blew into the alley he was standing in and the head line caught his attention. He grabbed it.

Captain America Abducts Innocent Woman. The paper screamed. There was a picture of Steve in full uniform carrying an unconscious woman in black.

"Steve." Bucky said. He looked at the woman and with a jolt recognized the costume she was wearing. It was identical to his. She was a Hydra asset. Reading the article, he discovered that the woman, Felicity Smoak, had disappeared 2 years prior and that evidence had surfaced that she had in fact been abducted by Captain America. Bucky closed his eyes. It had been 2 years since he'd fallen off of Hydra's radar. She hadn't been taken by Steve; she'd been taken by Hydra to replace him. Whatever was happening to her and Steve was his fault.

His hands shook and he tore the paper in half. Crumpling it in his fist he glared down at the metal monstrosity Hydra had forced on him. Bucky vowed to make them pay for every life they'd forced him and Felicity to take.


	24. Chapter 24

"We've got a problem." Natasha said, coming to the rec room.

"Well Rogers definitely does." Sam smirked.

"Shut up Falcon." Steve said through gritted teeth. Sam had taught him how to play video games and they were currently playing Mario Kart.

"How are those super soldier reflexes looking now?" Sam smirked as his car lapped Steve's for the second time. "Hey Rogers…on your left." He was about to cross the finish line when Natasha grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. Sam looked at the blank screen in despair.

"Nooooo." He turned to look at Natasha. "Romanov, I was winning."

"Sorry, but we've got a real situation here." She handed Steve a tablet. He looked at it, his brow furrowing.

"A Hydra base?" He asked. "That's the 3rd in 2 weeks that's been destroyed."

"And we still don't know who's doing it." Sam said. "Too bad, they could join the team."

"Actually." Natasha said, "we do. Go to the next picture." Steve swiped the screen.

"Oh." He said, his eyes widening.

"Is that…Barnes?" Sam asked. "Where did you get this?"

"Stark." Natasha explained. "He put a virus into the ARGUS servers that automatically scans all the images from their satellites and removes anything which might indicate to Waller where Felicity or Barnes might be. It's how we kept this base a secret. We had nothing on Barnes until now."

She pointed back at the screen where Bucky's gaunt face was staring at the smoldering ruin of the base he'd demolished.

"Damn." Sam said as they took in the scope of the wreckage. "He really doesn't hold back."

"He's probably got a lot of feelings to express." Steve said. He smiled in spite of himself. "We finally have a lead."

"What we have is a ruin." Natasha said. "This happened about 2 hours ago and Tony already sent 2 drones to see if they could pick up any trace of him. There's nothing."

Steve was still smiling. Sam rolled his eyes.

"This just in: explosions make Captain America grin like an idiot."

Natasha shrugged. "Considering the type of press he's been getting lately that might actually be an improvement."

"Bucky allowed himself to be seen." Steve said. "He's been off the radar for over half a century, do you really think he'd be this sloppy unless he had a reason?"

Natasha nodded. "He wants us to know he's out there. The problem is, Tony can only hold off Waller for so long."

"You mean Faustus." Steve said. "Tony said Waller was being controlled."

"True, but she sent down that kill order on Felicity before Faustus and Sin got involved." Sam said. "Deathstroke was broken out of jail after you guys took down Ultron. Just because she didn't order the hit on your boyfriend, doesn't mean she didn't order the hit on your girlfriend."

Steve frowned. "That may be true, but it doesn't mean we won't try to help her."

Sam nodded. "So you're just ignoring the whole girlfriend comment."

Steve looked away.

"Alright." Sam grabbed the remote away from Natasha. "Rematch?"

"No." Steve stood. "I'm going to go over Tony's drone footage. There might be something he missed." He stretched. "You should get some sleep. I'm running the session tomorrow."

Sam groaned.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather it was me?" she asked sweetly.

"Cap's idea of a warmup is a 15 mile run." Sam grumbled. "He desperately needs to loosen up."

Steve chuckled.

"He's probably got a lot of pent up frustration." Natasha shrugged. "He just needs to direct it into a different activity."

Sam snorted. "You know…" he said. "I couldn't help noticing that Felicity was very eager to run yesterday. Maybe she's got some frustration she needs to work out."

"Are you done?" Steve asked, his ears turning red.

"Just saying, maybe you could help each other." Sam suggested. Steve shook his head and walked out.

Natasha waited until Steve was well out of the room before smacking Sam on the back of the head.

"Ow." Sam rubbed his head. "What was that for?"

"Subtle." Natasha hissed. "This is why I work alone." She went over to the cabinet and grabbed a bag of popcorn. "Now he's going to be nervous."

"Nervous for what?" Sam asked. "It's the middle of the night…unless…Widow, what do you know?"

Natasha grabbed a handful of popcorn and smiled her, 'I'm dangerous and I know things' smile. "Nothing, just that Felicity hasn't been sleeping particularly well…and that her room is conveniently close to the gym… And I may have suggested a few ways to channel her restlessness." She motioned toward the video game console. "So Falcon. Wanna play?"

Sam laughed. "Nope, I enjoy living, thanks."

* * *

Felicity sat up. Looking around her in terror, for a heart stopping moment she thought she was back in the Hydra cell. Then she felt the softness of the bed and saw how large the room was. Wanda had insisted on painting it bright colors to remind her she was free and the soft pink she'd chosen for the walls soothed her.

Taking deep breaths Felicity tried to calm herself. She was shaking, an after effect of the nightmare. She knew it was pointless to try to go back to sleep. Grabbing some gym clothes, she decided to take Natasha's advice and exercise. Entering the gym she looked around, unsure of which piece of equipment to use. One in particular caught her attention.

* * *

Steve leaned back glaring at the screen in frustration. The drone footage had turned up nothing. Bucky was a ghost. There were no clues, no indications as to where he should look next. Steve rubbed his eyes and let out a growl of frustration. There was nothing more he could do that night. He could ask for Felicity's help, she was regaining her computer knowledge and she was already way better than him. He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was close to 4 am.

"She's probably sleeping." He muttered. At least he hoped she was. Sam's words about her having frustration to work out ran through his mind. "Don't go there Rogers." He admonished. He looked around. There was no way he was getting any sleep that night. He was way too jumpy. He made his way to the gym. He'd been hoping it would be empty, but as he approached, he heard noises. Thuds punctuated by small gasps. Frowning, he pressed his ear to the door, then opened it slowly. It was Felicity. She was in the corner using the punching bag. Steve was unsure whether to stay or leave her be. She seemed to be completely unaware of his presence; she was concentrating on the bag so hard. Her punches were violent, angry, but without discipline or technique. Steve moved inside, she still hadn't noticed him. He frowned, they would really need to work on her awareness training.

He walked up so he was standing directly behind her and cleared his throat. She spun around, her fists up ready to strike. Her eyes were wide, but she relaxed slightly when she recognized him.

"A man as big as you should make more noise." She said.

Steve bit back a smile. Looking at her fists he frowned in disapproval. "You're going to hurt yourself if you keep going like that." He said.

Felicity turned back to the bag. Cracking her neck, she shrugged. "I'll heal."

"Your stance is off." Steve continued, moving next to her he held out his hands, "May I?"

She nodded, stepping back. Steve grabbed the boxer's tape.

"You need to protect your hands." He gently took her hands in his and examined her knuckles. They were red, raw. He exhaled. "Your accelerated healing is no excuse to hurt yourself." He said. Putting down the tape he opted instead for cloth bandages to not worsen the injuries. After he was done wrapping her hands, he wrapped his.

"Hands up here." He said, putting his hands up and getting into position. "Put one of your feet forward and plant yourself. Make sure you're evenly balanced. You're not just using your arms, you're using your entire body. You need a strong foundation, and you also need to be able to move." He struck the bag. There was a loud thud and the bag moved slightly.

"You try." He said stepping back. Felicity copied his stance. Steve came to stand behind her. "You're still too tense." He said. Felicity ignored him. Striking out, she hit the bag. There was less power in her punch, but there was plenty of rage. She hit it again.

"Felicity." He said.

She kept hitting the bag. Again, and again and again.

"Felicity, stop." Steve said. She let out a small cry of anger as one of her punches went clear through the bag. She sank to her knees, breathing heavily.

"I can hear them." She said. "They're in my head, all night and I can hear them. Sometimes I can shut them out, but…"." she shuddered. "I couldn't tell my mom…when I talked to her I couldn't tell her about the thing's I'd done." Tears came down her face.

Steve knelt next to her. "Your mom loves you Felicity."

"You don't even know her."

"No," Steve agreed, "But I do know her daughter. You're caring and kind, which is why what Hydra did to you hurt so much." He paused. "Nat told you a bit about the person she used to be, do you hold that against her?"

Felicity shook her head.

"Sam was a soldier and he had to make some pretty tough decisions which I know keep him up at night. Do you hold those against him?"

"No." Felicity said.

"Then I can't believe that the woman who raised you would hold what Hydra forced you to do against you." Steve said, wiping her face. She turned away.

"I…kinda destroyed the bag." She mumbled.

"True." Steve nodded. "But you wouldn't be the first."

She let out a small cough. He tentatively reached out a hand and rubbed her back.

"Hands." He asked. She held hers out. He took off the cloth and examined them. They were beginning to heal, but they were still raw. "You're going to want to ice them." He said. He couldn't help the rush of protectiveness as he looked down at her hands. They were so small in his and it hurt him to think that whatever external pain she'd caused herself was nothing compared to what she was feeling inside.

"Your hands are so big." Felicity murmured. "And warm." She blushed.

"Thanks doll." He said.

Felicity stiffened.

"Sorry. I…um." Steve flushed, mentally kicking himself. "I sometimes forget what's okay to say to women these days and if you're offended I…"

Felicity tilted her head. "You don't call Wanda or Natasha, doll." She pointed out.

"Well. It's…" Steve silently wished the floor would open and swallow him up. "Nat's my friend and Wanda…" He cleared his throat, uncomfortably.

"Where does that leave me?" Felicity asked.

Steve looked at her. Her eyes were wide, and he saw a flicker of fear, nervousness in their depths. Just go for it, he told himself.

"Doll is a pet name guys in my day would use for a girl they'd like to go steady with." Steve explained.

Felicity gaped at him. "Steady?" Her voice was soft, slightly strangled. Steve closed his eyes. She wasn't interested.

"It slipped out, I'm sorry." He muttered. "Forget I said anything."

"Oh." Felicity sounded disappointed. "It's okay, I get it. How could I ever have been so stupid as to think he'd be interested, I mean he's Captain America." She pulled her hands away. Steve suspected that she hadn't meant to say the last part aloud. He put his hand under her chin and turned her to face him.

"Felicity, believe me; I am plenty interested." He said. She looked at him skeptically. "It's just, I was nervous because well, I've never really had the best luck with women." Memories of horrible forced double dates with Bucky resurfaced along with Peggy and how he'd missed his chance with her. He looked at the incredible woman in front of him and prayed she wouldn't be added to the list of failures. "I may act confident in the field, but deep down I'm still that skinny kid from Brooklyn who never got a dame…woman," he corrected, "to dance with him."

"That's their loss." Felicity said. There was another silence where they just stared at each other.

"This is awkward." She said, breaking the tension.

Steve laughed in relief. "Yes." He agreed.

"But it's a good type of awkward." She said.

"So, does this mean you want to be my girl?" Steve asked hopefully. Felicity nodded. Steve grinned and leaned forward, with the intent to kiss her cheek, but Felicity clearly had other ideas. She brushed her lips against his and Steve lost it. He pulled her close, one arm around her waist and the other slipping under her thigh, to pull her close. She let herself be pulled up wrapping her legs around his hips. Her arms went on his shoulders, one gripping his hair. Steve closed his eyes and groaned slightly. He was suddenly off balance. He wobbled slightly and landed with his back on the mats and Felicity on top of him. He flipped them over so he was on top.

"Doll." He said, pulling away reluctantly. "We need to slow down."

"Why?" Felicity's eyes were wide, her face flushed, and her hair had slipped out of its ponytail. She looked like an angel to him, and Steve groaned as he tried to reign in the unholy thoughts he was having about her.

"I've…" he felt a rush of embarrassment at what he was about to admit, but Felicity deserved honesty. "I've never done this before." He stared shamefaced, at the mat. "And I don't think a girl like you deserves a sweaty go on the gym floor."

"That's okay." Felicity said, placing her hand on top of his. "I…I don't remember the last time…or the first time either." She whispered. "We'll do this together. As slow as it takes."

"Not too slow." Steve said.

Felicity raised an eyebrow. "Some one's eager." She said.

"Yes." Steve breathed. "I mean…um I think there's some kind of 3 date rule and I really want to take you out."

Felicity blushed. "It's going to be kinda hard for you to take me out when you're a wanted criminal" She murmured.

Steve smiled. "I can be creative, doll. I just need the proper motivation." He stood and held out his hand helping her to her feet. "And you are the best motivation." He looked down at her hand in his. "Are you going to be alright to sleep?"

"No." Felicity said. "But for completely different reasons."


	25. Chapter 25

"Some one's looking peppy this morning." Natasha remarked when Steve came in from his run.

"What do you mean?" Steve opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle.

"Don't try lying to me, Rogers." Natasha grinned as she sat on the counter top. "I can read you like a book."

Steve shut the fridge and leaned against it.

"So, what happened with Felicity?" Natasha prompted.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Well seeing as you've been plotting with Rhodey and Sam I figured you already knew." He felt a sense of satisfaction at Natasha's surprised look. "How clueless do you think I am? I may be a bit behind, but I'm not naïve."

Natasha tilted her head. "You didn't go all in, did you." It wasn't meant as a question, but Steve answered it anyways.

"No." he admitted.

"Go all into what?" Pietro asked as he zipped in. Opening the fridge he grabbed a box of waffles. "I hope no one was planning on having waffles, because they are mine now."

Felicity walked in. "Good morning"

"How did you sleep?" Steve asked. Felicity went next to him and Steve put his hand on her waist. There was a thud as Pietro dropped the waffles.

"Better." Felicity said, a small smile playing on her lips.

Pietro looked from one to the other.

"Oh no." He growled

"Greetings Avengers." Tony's face popped up on the screen in the kitchen. "I need a word with your charismatic leader."

"Go ahead Tony." Steve said. Tony looked over at Steve and Felicity. "Well, there's someone else here who wants to be included in the conversation and something tells me he's not going to be too happy about certain developments." He looked pointedly at Steve's hand on Felicity's waist

Steve looked at Felicity, she coughed nervously.

"I'm talking about the Arrow, just in case you didn't guess." Tony said. Steve glared at him.

"Do you want to be here?" Steve asked. Felicity shook her head. "Okay, I'll take this to the briefing room." He got up and went to the briefing room. Shutting the door behind him, he gave Tony an exasperated look. "Next time you plan on making me a criminal a warning might be nice."

"I needed them to know I was all in." Tony said. "It's not easy getting bad guys to trust you."

"Sure." Steve said. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"The endgame." Tony said. "We have a plan and Queen wants to be included in strategizing." He turned around. "OLLIE OLLIE OXEN FREE." He shouted.

Oliver Queen walked into the room. "You know, you could have just said, come in Oliver." He rolled his eyes. Sitting next to Tony he squinted at the screen as if he were trying to see the rest of the room Steve was in.

"She's not here." Steve said.

Oliver glared. Tony shook his head.

"How about we go over the plan before playing who's got the stronger jaw line." He said. "Afterwards you can whip out the rulers and go crazy."

Steve nodded. "What have you got Tony?"

"Well the easiest way to take down the squad is draw them out into the open." Tony explained. "and I sort of, kind of, implied to Waller and co that the best way to get to you was to use Felicity."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like where this is going?" Steve asked.

"We need a secure location where we can trick them into looking for you." Tony said. "That way when they go there, we trap them. Boom, down they go."

"And what do we do once Waller notices she's been had?" Steve said. "Faustus and Sin aren't going to protect their assets. They're much more likely to detonate the squad and run."

"That's where I come in." Tony said. "As you know I've been doing some digging in ARGUS's systems and I'm pretty sure I found a way to hijack the control of the bombs. I just need Vision and the bombshell to double check."

"That's not her codename." Steve said.

"As long as I don't have a new one, that's what I'm using." Tony retorted. "Any who, we get control of the Suicide Squad, Lawton leads them into a rebellion, they turn on Faustus and Sin and we save the day."

Steve frowned. "How do we draw them out?"

"The two of you," Tony said, "and by two I mean you and Blondie dearest, are going to lead a trail of bread crumbs. A gas station here, a motel there which will culminate with Felicity attempting to hack Stark Tower. I'll tell Waller, and the game begins."

"This is going to be a long op." Steve said. "Waller needs to believe it's accidental."

"Which is where your bomb happy friend comes in." Tony said. "It would make sense for you to try and investigate the Hydra bombings." He grinned. "AVENGERS ROAD TRIP. Wait…I don't get to go." He pouted.

Steve sighed. "The plan has merit. And I know the perfect covert place for the confrontation. There's this old SHIELD safe house that I stayed at after I woke up."

"I was wondering where they put you after you were defrosted." Tony said.

"I'll have to check with Felicity, then I'll brief the others." Steve said, moving to shut off the transmission.

"WAIT." Tony said. Steve froze.

"Yes?"

"Oliver wants to express his feelings." Tony said, pulling out a bowl of popcorn. "Don't mind me, pretend I'm not here."

Oliver closed his eyes and shook his head. Looking back at Steve, he asked. "Can I speak to Felicity?"

"That's not up to me." Steve said. "I'm sorry, I understand that this is difficult, but –"

"You don't understand." Oliver said. He was clearly trying to reign in his anger, but Steve could see a vein in his neck jumping.

"Mr. Queen," Steve said. "Felicity's safe, and until she's ready to see you, I'm not going to force her."

"Why should I trust you?" Oliver growled. "You lied to me and my team when you told us you knew nothing and she was actually helping you bring down Ultron."

"I did that to protect her." Steve hissed.

"This is better than TV." Tony grinned, "I wonder what would happen if Queen knew how chummy you two were this morning."

"What?" Oliver said. Steve glared at Tony.

"Seriously?"

"Hey." Tony grinned. "I'm not here."

Oliver crossed his arms and appeared to be waiting for Steve to explain.

"I care about Felicity and –" Steve began before Tony cut him off.

"Is that why Rhodey saw you standing in front of her bedroom at 4 am?" Tony smirked. "Rogers and Felicity sittin' in a tree."

"STARK." Steve cut off Tony's mocking song. Oliver looked murderous.

"If you're taking advantage of her…" he growled.

There was a dinging noise.

"Oooo my pop tarts." Tony moved to grab his snacks. "Pause this. I'll be right back. Don't let anything good happen without me."

Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mr. Queen." He said. "What's going on between Felicity and me is –"

"False alarm." Tony said, coming back, "It wasn't my pop tarts, it was some lab results. Apparently the Mirakuru cure doesn't work on either you or Felicity and by extension Barnes." He pulled out his phone. "I'm texting Waller now. That should shake up some of the villain dynamics." He looked back at Oliver and Steve. "Now where were we?"

"I was explaining to Oliver that "

"Yawn." Tony said. "When's the caveman fight starting?"

"What happened to pretend I'm not here?" Steve said. "I need to brief the other Avengers. Mr. Queen, Felicity's state of mind is more important than your feelings. She comes first. I promise that the second she asks for you, I'll tell you." He cut the transmission. Standing he walked over to the door. "Felicity." He said, "Can I talk to you?"

Felicity, who was wrestling Pietro for a waffle, looked up. "Sure." She said. Coming into the briefing room, she gave him a smile.

"Tony came up with a plan to get rid of the Suicide Squad, but I need to clear it with you before I tell the others." He said, explaining Tony's plan.

"The Hydra base that Barnes blew up, is it far?" Felicity said.

"Not really, it's only a 2 day drive. The safe house is another matter. It's in Canada." Steve explained. "If we're going with Tony's kidnap story, it would make sense for me to sneak across the Canadian border. If Waller attacks us there, she'll lose all political backing when she gets caught. An unsanctioned attack on foreign land would definitely raise a few eyebrows in congress." He frowned. "At which point I'm hoping Tony explains that the whole Captain America is a crazy sadist story is fake."

"Who's going to go with us?" Felicity asked.

"Well." Steve flushed. "It will be easier the less people are involved. So the rest of the team is going to be on stand-by, but I was thinking it might just be you and me."

Felicity gaped at him, then she started laughing. "You know." she said. "When you said you'd come up with a creative dating idea, I didn't expect a mission."

Steve chuckled. "I am just full of surprises." He cleared his throat. "This opp could take a while. We have to make it believable which means the two of us will be on the run together. It's not going to be easy."

Felicity nodded. "I can handle it." She bit her lip. "What did…did Oliver ask about me?"

"Yes." Steve said. "I told him that you weren't ready."

Felicity ducked her head. Steve frowned, replaying their conversation from the night before in his head. "Felicity, do you not want to see your team because you're afraid of how they might react?" he said. "Because I know you were nervous about your mom knowing, but…"

Felicity crossed her arms. "I'm not ready." She said, defiantly. Steve raised an eyebrow.

"If you're sure." He said. She nodded. "You'll tell me when you're ready."

"Yes." She said.

Steve nodded. "Okay, I'll bring in the others to explain the plan."

"I'll go pack." She went on tip toe and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Pulling back she flushed, insecurity apparent on her face. "Is it okay that I did that? I …I just wanted to and."

"More than okay, doll." Steve said. "Definitely more than okay."

She beamed at him and left. As the other team members entered the room Steve began to worry that the difficulty of this mission wouldn't be facing the Suicide Squad.

"Okay Avengers." Steve turned to the team. "First thing's first. What happens at 4 am on this base does not get reported back to Tony."


	26. Chapter 26

Slade dragged himself through the darkened woodland. He'd barely made it out of the facility alive. When Stark had told Faustus and Sin that his cure was ineffective, they'd decided to place a bomb in his spine and have him join the rest of the rabble. This was better. He would have an easier time carrying out his revenge without the others holding him back. It wasn't that his time with Faustus and Sin hadn't been useful. He'd gotten out of prison and now he knew exactly how to get the means of his revenge. If Felicity Smoak was the tool to get to Captain Rogers, then it stood to reason that it worked the other way.

And, he mused to himself as he watched the long haired man with the meal arm approach the Hydra base; he'd just found Rogers' pressure point.

* * *

Tony let out his fifth dramatic sigh in as many minutes. Maria raised an eyebrow.

"I think he's trying to tell you something, Pepper."

"And until he uses his words, I'm going to continue ignoring him." Pepper said, as she looked over Stark Industries' latest stock numbers.

"It's just so romantic." Tony had a tablet on his lap and was looking at the latest grainy cellphone picture someone had snapped of Felicity and Steve. "The open road, on the run from the law; they're like Bonnie and Clyde."

"Let's just hope they don't end up like Bonnie and Clyde." Maria muttered and Pepper nodded her agreement.

"Pep, we should be outlaws." Tony's eyes lit up as he considered the idea. "We could rob a few banks, hotwire a fancy car and drive away into the sunset –"

"No." Pepper said as Maria doubled over in laughter. Tony pouted. There was a dinging noise from his tablet.

"New sighting!" He was practically bouncing as he opened it. "Let's see what color hair Felicity has now." His eyes widened as he watched the security cam footage from a gas station in Michigan. "They dyed Cap's hair."

"I know." Maria said, "I've been monitoring the news cycle's response to each update and Fox News has already declared it a desecration of public property."

Tony held up the image of Steve with jet black hair, sunglasses, and a leather jacket. "He looks like Danny Zuko."

"That's not always a bad thing." Pepper pointed out. Tony frowned. "Shouldn't you be focusing on finding Deathstroke? He's been missing for 3 days now." She said, changing the subject.

"There's no sign of him. The guy's a ghost. Or he's dead." Tony said. "The good news is, Waller is completely buying this road trip thing. Faustus and Sin are completely clueless –" The burner phone he used to communicate with the suicide squad went off. "Villain phone."

"We know, you don't have to announce it." Maria rolled her eyes. "Why are you dating this guy?" Pepper sighed.

"He has moments, and he's useful for somethings."

"Uh huh." Tony shook his head as he answered, "Tony Stark, what evilness might I assist today?"

Maria and Pepper facepalmed.

"Mr. Stark." A deep voice with an Australian accent said. Tony paled.

"Wilson, baby we were just talking about you. It's been a while; we should catch up. Just tell me where you are and I'll pick you up." He made frantic motions to Maria, who grabbed the tablet and began tracing the call. "I'll send my jet…and a straightjacket."

"Don't bother tracing this call." Deathstroke continued. "Listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you. I know you're playing Waller. I recognize a double cross when I see one."

"Are you sure? Your vision isn't exactly 20/20." Tony said.

"Amusing." Deathstroke deadpanned. "Tell Captain Rogers that I have the Winter Soldier and that if he ever wants to see him alive, I want the girl."

"Mmmm no deal." Tony said. "I kinda like Smoak. She's smart and nice to look at." He looked over at Maria who shook her head. 'keep him talking'. She mouthed.

"I suggest you contact the good Captain and tell him my offer." Deathstroke said. "I'll give you 24 hours. Then I begin sending you Barnes in pieces."

Tony panicked as he realized Deathstroke was planning on hanging up. "24 hours? It takes time to contact them and I need more of it."

"24 hours, Stark." The line went dead.

"Please tell me you got him." He said, walking over to Maria, she shook her head.

"He was jamming us. If he has Barnes it stands to reason that he managed to get his hands on some Hydra tech."

"Which is going to be such a party for us." Tony sighed. "Okay. We need to call Cap."

* * *

The latest motel was going to be an issue Steve thought when he opened the door. It wasn't that it was the dirtiest placed they'd stayed or the most dangerous or the most overrun with criminal activity. The problem was that the motel room only had one bed. Felicity didn't seem to notice and instead made a beeline for the bathroom claiming she needed a shower. Steve shut the door and put his bag on the chair in the corner of the room. Staring at the bed he wondered how this was going to work. Sharing a room with Felicity had already been difficult, but sharing a bed…

He turned on the TV, trying to distract himself. Flipping through the channels, he frowned at the news. "Felicity." He called out, self consciously touching his head. "They got a picture of my hair."

"The person at the front desk didn't see you." She responded. This was true. Because couples traveling together were scrutinized more, Felicity had gone to the motel reception desk alone to get the key. "We can just wash it out."

"Thank goodness." Steve muttered. He hated the black.

"I kinda liked it." Felicity laughed. He heard the sound of the water turning off. About a minute later she came out, dressed and drying her hair. Smiling, she grabbed the second chair in the room and dragged it into the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, amused. He followed her to the bathroom where she put the chair in front of the sink.

"Sit." She instructed. Steve raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to wash out the dye." She explained.

"I can do it by myself." Steve muttered, but sat anyway.

"You might miss something." Felicity said. Grabbing a bottle of shampoo, she turned on the faucet. "Lean back and close your eyes." Steve did as she instructed.

The warm water poured over his head. Steve let himself relax, giving into the calm sensation. Then it was turned off. There was a touch of cold as Felicity squeezed out some shampoo, then her fingers began lathering it in. Steve let out a low groan. Her fingers stilled.

"You like that?" she asked.

"mmm." Steve hummed in contentment, taking in the feel of Felicity's fingers, the smell of her soap and the sound of her breathing. Too soon her fingers were gone and the water was back on, rising out the shampoo. Then it was turned off. Steve opened his eyes. Felicity was looking down at him an affectionate smile playing on her lips. She blushed and looked away. She was unguarded, vulnerable.

"I like when you smile, doll." He said. She cleared her throat and grabbed one of the towels and handed it to him.

"I'll just be outside." She muttered.

"Felicity." He said, standing.

"Did you notice that there's only one bed? Because that seems to be something we should discuss. At some point. Not immediately, especially since we're in such a small space." Felicity said. She left the bathroom. Steve followed.

"Nervous?" Steve asked.

"Nothing has to happen. I mean, it's just a bed. It's not like we haven't slept together in the car. In that we slept next to each other, only sleeping." Felicity said.

"A bed's different." Steve said. "At least for me, which is why I can sleep on the floor or on the chair or I can keep watch or – "

Felicity was smiling.

"What?"

"You're cute when you're flustered." She murmured.

"I just don't want to pressure you into something you're not ready for." Steve hung his head. "I really liked these last 4 weeks just driving and getting to know you." He smiled, thinking back at the small pieces of her memory Felicity had gained just by listening to the radio. "I don't want to mess this up."

"Seeing as you're still here, even after the Spice Girls incident. I think we've passed the fear of messing up." Felicity muttered. Steve laughed. "It's not funny." She blushed, the tension of their conversation, broken.

"What was that song called?" He asked. "I want to add it to the workout playlist we have back at base." Anything that made her happy and brought back memories was fine by him.

"Wannabe." Felicity muttered.

The Tony phone rang.

Steve sighed in exasperation.

"It's probably an emergency." Felicity said.

"Huh." Steve wouldn't have put it past Tony to have built a robot to track them and interrupt the second things got serious. "Tony," he answered.

"Deathstroke has Barnes." Tony said. "He wants to trade for Felicity."

Felicity's eyes grew wide. Steve knew she could hear the conversation.

"That's not an option. Do we know where he is?"

"I know that." Tony growled. "We couldn't trace him, we have no idea where he is and Deathstroke mentioned something about sending pieces."

"Tony." Steve interrupted. Felicity had closed her eyes and she looked slightly green.

"Oh shit, super hearing. She's listening right?" Tony paused. "It's not your fault, Felicity. Besides, what can Deathstroke even do? He doesn't have the juice, though if he captured Barnes…"

Felicity grabbed the phone. "Tell him we say yes."

"WHAT?" Tony and Steve shouted.

"Slade underestimated me the first time, he won't do it again, but we've got something he didn't count on." Felicity grinned. "He doesn't know about Wanda."


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks so much for your patience, I had a bit of writer's block. Mostly I was just nervous writing this chapter. This story is rated M because of what happens in this chapter. I'm not 100% comfortable with writing sex scenes and I didn't want to screw it up. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Steve opened the door to the cabin. "This belonged to SHIELD and it's built to withstand super powered people." He explained, stepping aside so Felicity could go in first. She stood in the middle. It was only 2 rooms: a large kitchen, living room combination and a bedroom which led into a small bathroom. "Wanda and Pietro are coming tomorrow." He continued when she didn't say anything. "And Deathstroke said he'd rendezvous in 2 days."

"He must be really confident if he's willing to come to us." Felicity murmured, her words mirroring Steve's anxiety. What had Slade done to Bucky to make him so capable of controlling him?

"We're giving him the coordinates as soon as he contacts Tony." He shut the door. "We get rid of him and get Bucky back. Then we leak our location to Waller and take down the suicide Squad." The list was simple and that grated on Steve's nerves. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong. There were too many variables. Too many –

His thoughts were interrupted by Felicity putting her hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay." She said. "Stop worrying, you'll go gray."

Steve grinned. "I'm a bit late in that department." He said. "97 seems to be a good age to start getting gray hairs." Felicity shook her head in amusement and walked over to the kitchen. Steve moved to block her.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked. Felicity held up the shopping bags.

"I'm hungry, so…"

"No way." Steve took them out of her hands and gently pushed her towards the living room. "You are banned from the kitchen."

"But-"

"I actually want to eat tonight and I saw what happened when you and Pietro were let loose into the kitchen back at the base."

She flushed at the memory. "It wasn't that bad." She mumbled. Steve chuckled.

"The base smelled like burned eggs for 5 days." He retorted.

"Only because you have super smelling senses." Felicity shot back.

"Am I wrong?" Steve crossed his arms. "You have enhanced senses too."

She blushed, looking at the ground. "Ah ha." He tapped her nose. "You are every bit as terrible a liar as I am." He turned and went to the kitchen, putting the bags on the island and opening them.

"You're so mean." Felicity huffed. "Maybe I was a world class chief before and I just forgot."

Steve paused. It was the first time she'd made a reference to her memory loss in a way that wasn't negative. Being away from the base and interacting with the real world, even if it was only as a fugitive, had been unbelievably good for her. She was smiling more and talking. Boy was she talking. She'd go off on the smallest things and spend 5 minutes until she turned red with embarrassment and turn away. It didn't bother Steve; he could listen to her for hours. Though he didn't admit it, her regaining her memories had helped him adjust to the world and her explanations of certain things were easier to stomach than those of the others who'd tried to catch him up. Tony was always mocking him. Natasha, despite her good intentions, could sometimes be a little condescending. As soon as this mess was over and he wasn't a wanted criminal he'd take her out of the base more often.

"Until those skills come back, Julia Child, I'm keeping you out of the kitchen. For the safety of humanity."

"Ha ha." Felicity grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the kitchen island. "Do I want to know how you know who Julia Childs is?"

"I had a fling with her back in the day." Steve deadpanned as he looked through the cabinets, getting out pots.

"Sure you did." Felicity rolled her eyes.

He sighed. "The real answer's a lot less funny, doll."

She leaned forward, propping up her arms on the island counter and putting her chin on her hands. She wasn't going to let him joke his way out of it. She was one of the few people who asked him about the 40's out of genuine curiosity, not out of obligation or politeness.

"I grew up during the Great Depression." He began. "The food was…less than appealing and that's when you could get it. Then the war came and everyone had to go on wartime rations. When I got shipped over it got worse. Out on the frontlines, there was next to nothing. We ate roots, rats…many people didn't die of bullet wounds, but because they got sick eating something they shouldn't have. After I woke up…" He flushed. "I remembered this one night in France. I was after I'd pulled Bucky away from Zola in Italy. We'd just formed the Howling Commandoes and I have no idea where Dernier got the food, but he cooked us a traditional French meal to celebrate. I bought Julia Child's book on cooking so I could cook like him. I always wanted to learn before."

Felicity smiled. "Okay, top chef. Feed me."

"Is that an order, soldier?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure it was…Captain."

"Careful, doll." Steve said. "Power like that can go to your head."

She smiled and got off the chair, exploring the cabin. Steve continued unpacking the bags, dimly aware of her moving around the cabin…until she turned on the music. He didn't recognize the song. It was definitely something from after his time. He stopped his movement, watching as she hummed along, swaying in time to rhythm. She noticed him watching her and flushed.

"Sorry." She said. "Someone left these CDs here, which is weird because who still uses CDs?"

"SHIELD agents." Steve explained, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of his answer. "After I defrosted they had an agency wide vote on what type of media I needed to catch up on. All the books, CDs and movies in the cabin were the winners." He pointed to the case in her hand. "What is it?"

"Norah Jones." She replied. "I had my first kiss to this song." She closed her eyes and smiled at the memory. "My heart is drenched in wine, but you'll be on my mind forever." She sang along softly, beginning to move again. Back and forth, she closed her eyes. Steve put down the food and came behind her. Tapping her shoulder he waited for her to turn before holding out his hand.

"May I?"

She nodded, her cheeks turning redder. She looked slightly apprehensive. He spun her slowly and pulled her close, they moved in time to the music.

"I like this." He said, "it's similar to music in my time, but there's something modern about it."

Felicity pressed her cheek against his chest. He slid his hands down to her waist, bringing them together on the small of her back. He leaned his head on top of hers. This could get dangerous, especially considering what he'd bought at the last gas station when Felicity wasn't paying attention. He hoped Tony wouldn't find out, because he'd never hear the end of it.

"Steve." She said softly.

"Hmm."

She pulled away slightly and he felt colder for the loss of contact. He wanted her in his arms; safe. He looked down. She slid her hands up his arms and pulled his face down to hers. Her lips were soft; warm. He deepened the kiss, wanting more. She tasted like the chocolate bar she'd eaten in the car and peppermint. She sighed slightly. He pulled her closer, pressing himself against her. She tugged slightly at the hair on the back of his head, pulling him back slightly. He pressed his forehead against hers

"You're so beautiful, doll." He mumbled. When had it gotten so hot in the cabin? Every movement had slowed. The song had changed, but he barely noticed it. Everything around him seemed to melt away until all that was left was her. He remembered Bucky telling him that when the moment was right he'd know it. He'd never believed he'd get his chance, because of his health and then the war, but here it was. "Felicity." He said. "Do you?"

"Yes." She moaned.

Picking her up, he moved towards the bag from the gas station. She wound her legs around his waist; her arms came up around his neck. He put one arm around her waist and pressed her against him. Leaning down he fished the box of condoms out of the bag. Then he moved towards the bedroom. Fumbling with the door, he pushed it open and put her on the bed. She tugged on his shirt, keeping him on top of her. He kissed her again, reveling in the demanding way she responded. There was a tearing sound and he realized that in her excitement she'd torn open his shirt.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Don't apologize." He straightened up to remove what was left of his shirt. She looked at him with barely concealed desire and…fear?

"What's wrong, doll?" He asked, pulling back slightly.

"Are you sure about this? About wanting me?" She asked. She still didn't think she deserved him. He was going to fix that. He knelt on the bed between her legs.

"There's nothing I'm more sure of." He murmured, sliding a hand under her shirt, and running his fingers up her spine. She whimpered slightly and arched her back, grabbing his bicep for support. "You can't hurt me, doll. I'm just not sure that I won't make a fool of myself." They moved together, teasing, caressing, until they were both breathless and naked. He lowered his lips to her neck, her collarbone, her breasts. He wanted every part of her, he wanted to taste her, hear her, feel her here with him. She lost her former fear and apprehension. By the time he'd lowered himself to her waist, she was moaning, panting.

"Steve." She begged.

"I got you doll." He murmured into her upper thigh.

"Need you." She groaned. He licked his lips, unsure how to proceed. "Steve." She keened. She rolled her hips towards him. He ground his hips against the bed to relieve some of the pressure because each of her noises went straight to his groin. He wanted her to come first. Wanted her to know how much she meant to him. He just wasn't sure what to do. She ended up making the decision for him, lifting one of her legs and hooking it over his shoulder. He followed her lead, testing out what made her react the most. She grabbed the back of his head, practically wailing in ecstasy, rolling her hips. There was a breathless gasp of something that might have been his name, then she shuddered. He pulled back, watching as she came apart in front of him. He wiped his face and grabbed the box of condoms. In his excitement he ripped it in two, the condoms spilling everywhere. Felicity, who'd just come down from her orgasm, looked at him in amusement.

"Sorry." He mumbled, grabbing one and pushing as many as he could off the bed onto the floor. Being careful to not damage it, he opened the package and slipped it on. She grinned and reached for his hand. He gripped it, and lifted her hips with the other hand. Sliding inside her he choked. He hadn't felt this breathless since he'd been injected with the serum, but the feeling of being inside of Felicity was so indescribable it took away his ability to breathe. She seemed to understand that and reached for his shoulder, pulling him down.

"I trust you." She whispered into his ear and with that admission air rushed back into his lungs. He started out slow, getting used to the way she felt around him, then when she insistently lifted her hips and dug her heels into his back he sped up.

He didn't know how long it lasted, time seemed to freeze. There was only Felicity and him. Then suddenly she threw back her head and let out another one of those strangled gasps. He pushed forward one last time and let go. When the fireworks had finally stopped, he looked at her. Her hair was splayed out, her eyes were half closed and he'd never seen her so unguarded, so relaxed.

"Was that okay?" He asked, suddenly nervous. She nodded running her fingers through his sweat soaked hair. He leaned into her touch.

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" She asked.

He nodded, moving off of her and lying next to her. She pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips. He sat up, kissing her. She ran her fingers down his chest and brought them up his back.

"I trust you too." He said, when they broke apart.

"Steve," She said, about an hour later, lying on his chest after they finished their third round.

"Mmm" He responded, looking down at her and wondering if he could convince her to pose for him. She was almost ethereal in the light of the setting sun which filtered in through the windows and he wanted to capture her on paper.

"I'm still hungry."

* * *

The Quinjet carrying Wanda and Pietro landed outside the cabin. They'd decided to come early to see if they could help with anything before Deathstroke arrived. The flight had been easy, since FRIDAY had piloted the jet. They had landed quietly in order to surprise Felicity. Pietro was about to open the door and run inside, when Wanda flushed a bright shade of red and put out a hand to stop him.

"What?" He asked.

"We might not want to go in there." She said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "In fact we definitely do not."

Pietro groaned, covering his face. "Please tell me they're not…"

"Let them have their moment." Wanda chided.

"But where will we sleep?" Pietro whined. Wanda went over to one of the equipment closets and tossed him a blanket. Grabbing one for herself, she sat in the pilot's chair Pietro grumbled and sat in the co pilot's chair.

"We've had worse." Wanda pointed out.

"True." He crossed his arms.

"They are happy." She said. "And I can see that they will need this happiness soon."

"Why?" Pietro frowned.

"Then next few days are uncertain." Wanda's eyes got that red glow that came with her visions. "I see many ways for them to go, none is definite. Many of them are unpleasant." She shook her head clear. "So let them be happy."

"For now." Pietro yawned. "Tomorrow, I teach the Captain a lesson."

"Of course." Wanda chuckled.


	28. Chapter 28

While going to bed with Steve had been mind-blowing, waking up with him was even better. He'd carried her straight to the bathroom and run them a bath. She'd gratefully sunk into the warm water, sighing as it soothed her sore muscles.

"I thought super serum helped with soreness." She groaned. Steve chuckled as he slid into the water behind her, pulling her onto his lap.

"Good morning." He said, nuzzling her neck.

She smiled, and let out a contented hum as he grabbed the soap, and began washing her shoulders. "Good morning." She murmured back, closing her eyes and melting into his touch as his fingers moved over her back and slipped around to her stomach. She felt wanted, safe…human.

"Hey." Steve's concerned tone caused her to open her eyes and turn to look at him. "Why are you crying?" He looked worried. Felicity wiped her eyes and sure enough tears were coming down. She cleared her throat, embarrassed.

"I just…feel so happy." She said, laughing weakly. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Me too." Steve admitted. "Living in this time makes me feel alone, isolated. But with you, I found a place to feel safe, to belong." He tugged her closer. "You're everything to me, Felicity."

Felicity closed her eyes and pressed her face against his chest. She loved how open and honest Steve was with her. But there was still a nagging voice at the back of her mind, warning her to enjoy this while it lasted, because there was no way he wouldn't realize what a terrible mistake he'd made.

"Not a mistake, doll." Steve's voice rumbled. "I don't know what I have to do to prove it."

She blushed and opened her eyes. He was looking at her, smiling. "And I love how open and honest you are with me…even if sometimes it's accidentally." He gave her waist a slight squeeze. Felicity squirmed.

"Are you ticklish?" His eyes lit up.

"No." Felicity pulled away, quickly. Steve grinned.

"I'll be exploiting that detail later." He held up his hands, in surrender. "Talk to me, Felicity; why do you think I'll leave?" He frowned. "Is it because of that vision you had when we were fighting Ultron?" They hadn't talked about the visions, but they often haunted Felicity's dreams. She nodded slowly.

"They weren't real, Felicity." He said.

"Some of them were." She looked away. "Some of them were memories, being an outcast as a child, my dad leaving, Oliver telling me he loved me to trick Slade into kidnapping me." Steve stiffened. "The people I killed too. They were real."

"The people Hydra killed." Steve corrected. "They tortured you, brainwashed you and took away your free will." He put his hand under her chin and gently turned her to face him. "I'm not going to abandon you. We're teammates, friends. You're my best girl." She blushed.

"The water's getting cold." She murmured.

Steve nodded. "Are you still sore?" He asked.

Felicity shook her head, rolling her eyes in amusement at the way his eyes lit up with excitement. "Seriously?"

"Doll, I have waited 97 years for this." He pulled her forward so she was straddling his lap. "Excuse me if I'm eager."

"Aren't you afraid of pulling something, old man?" she shot back. The corner of Steve's mouth ticked up.

"Old man?" He said, standing. Felicity squeaked and wound her legs around him and gripped his shoulders. "Okay doll." He smirked. "We'll see if you're still singing that tune when I'm through with you." Moving back to the bedroom, he put her down on the bed. "Now, it's come to my attention that you're ticklish." Felicity backed up.

"Don't you dare." She said. Steve grinned.

"Guess you'll have to do something to distract me."

Felicity moved off the bed, Steve watched as she moved to stand in front of him. She pushed him down, so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was at eye level with her now, looking at her, his eyes wide and full of anticipation. She giggled.

"What?" He looked hurt.

"You look so…" She couldn't finish her thought, dissolving into giggles. Steve huffed and pulled her into his arms. "Sorry."

Steve shook his head, rubbing her back. "Sure, laugh at the man who's looking at you as if you hung the moon." He grumbled, sending her into a fresh wave of giggles. "I wasn't bad was I?" He asked, suddenly insecure. Felicity nodded.

"No complaints, whatsoever." She said. "Actually…you were suspiciously good." She frowned. Steve turned bright red, confirming her suspicions. "Fess up Rogers."

"Sam and Nat…kind sat me down and gave me…the talk." He mumbled. Felicity's eyes widened.

"The talk." She repeated. "As in the birds and the bees."

"It's not funny." Steve frowned as she began laughing. "Sam brought bananas and condoms and Nat went into extreme detail about…certain methods that might work."

"I thought you'd done research with porn, but this is so much better." Felicity said. "Remind me to thank them…and hack the security footage to watch it."

"Nat disabled the cameras." Steve said, "to hide it from Tony." He added when Felicity pouted. He kissed her forehead. "Now, where were we?"

There was a loud slam from the cabin door. In a split second both Steve and Felicity were on their feet. Steve grabbed his boxers from the ground and slipped them on, Felicity grabbed her discarded shirt and followed him.

"We're here, please have clothes on." Pietro's voice called loudly from the other room. Felicity grinned.

"Give us a moment." She called back. Grabbing her bag she pulled out fresh clothes and got dressed. Steve was standing in the center of the bedroom, looking let down.

"Rain check." She said. He nodded. Going out she rushed to give Pietro and Wanda a hug.

"Stark told us that Slade is on his way." Wanda said. "Otherwise we would not have interrupted." Felicity blushed.

"The Quinjet?" Steve asked.

"Is here and cloaked." Wanda said. "We do not want Deathstroke to know of our presence. The others are setting up a meeting with Waller as soon as we secure Barnes."

"Good." Steve said, moving to the kitchen. "Who's hungry?"

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when Slade arrived. He pulled up in front of the cabin in a large black pickup truck. Steve and Felicity were standing in front of the cabin. Steve was in full uniform, but Felicity was dressed innocuously in a t shirt and jeans. They knew Slade was aware of her enhancements, but they were counting on making her look harmless, so he might be lulled into a false sense of security and underestimate her. Slade got out of the truck.

"Ms. Smoak." He said, looking at her hungrily. "So nice to see you again, even if our time together promises to be short."

Steve clenched his jaw. Felicity stepped around him and moved towards Slade. "Where's Barnes?" She asked.

"I see we're not wasting time on formality." Slade said through clenched teeth. He tossed Felicity a collar. "Put that on."

Steve made a small growling noise, and stepped forward. Felicity put out a hand, blocking him.

"Why?" Steve asked.

"I'm not stupid, Captain." Slade said. "I know Hydra experimented on her. Which is why I took precautions. That collar is one of them." He glared. "Put it on."

"Not until I see, Barnes." Felicity glared at Slade. Steve felt a rush of pride. Then he stomach curled when Slade moved to the back of the truck and dragged a semi incoherent Bucky out of the back. He had a similar collar around his neck.

"Little something I picked up from a Hydra base." He said, "makes him more…amenable to suggestion." At the sound of Slade's voice, Bucky shuddered and opened his eyes.

"Punk?" he asked, looking at Steve. His eyes were unfocused, his voice weak.

"Buck." He said. Then he turned his attention to Slade. "Get that thing off of him."

"Not until the lovely Ms. Smoak puts hers on." Slade said. "You see, it's more than just a motivational device. It's a bomb and it can only be removed by a code that I know. As soon as I've put enough distance between myself and this place. I'll give you the code. By that time I, and Felicity, will be far out of your reach." The look he gave Felicity made Steve's fists clench. "It's such a shame that mind reading isn't one of your enhancements, Captain."

Steve grinned. "Mind reading might not be one of my enhancements…which is why I brought someone who has it." He tapped his com. "Maximoff?"

Pietro zipped out of the house and grabbed Bucky, typing in a code that Wanda had extracted from Slade's mind. Wanda followed, her hands glowing red. Slade was paralyzed as the light hit him. Wanda tilted her head.

"So much anger…pain." She murmured. "Your life was ruined because of that serum. It twisted you inside, broke you."

"Wanda?" Pietro asked. Steve frowned, was she offering him a second chance?

"We can help you." She said.

"Do we want to?" Pietro hissed. Wanda ignored him.

"All you have to do is ask." She continued. "Try for some remorse."

Slade grabbed his head in pain. It looked as though he might accept Wanda's offer, but then his face twisted with rage and madness. "No." he said hoarsely.

Wanda looked at him sadly. "She was beautiful and kind." She said quietly. "She would be saddened by your decision." A jolt of power rushed from her finger tips and he fell to the ground unconscious. Steve relaxed. Grabbing Slade, he restrained him and dragged him to the Quinjet.

"Well that's one down." He said, coming back, Felicity was kneeling next to Bucky.

"You're the woman from the picture." Bucky said softly, reaching out to touch her face. "The new Winter Soldier." He looked at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry. It's my fault they took you; they needed to replace me."

Felicity put her hand on his. "It's not your fault." She murmured. "I think we all need to forgive ourselves for things we had no control over."

Bucky looked over at Steve and stiffened.

"Hey Buck." Steve said, kneeling next to him. Bucky flinched.

"I…still have my programming." He closed his eyes. "My last orders were to kill you."

"So were mine." Felicity said, putting her hand on his metal shoulder trying to reassure him. "And he's still alive."

"Yeah, but you didn't grow up with the punk." Bucky's pained expression turned into an impish grin. "Otherwise those orders might sound like a good idea."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You'll definitely be okay. Jerk."

Bucky grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Steve closed his eyes and held his friend.

"We can contact Stark and tell him we have Barnes. That way we can have him bring the others here to face the Suicide Squad." He heard Wanda tell Felicity.

"We do not have to." Pietro said. Steve heard the sound of a Quinjet approaching. He opened his eyes. Helping Bucky to his feet, he watched as it touched down.

"Tony." He said, as Stark came out of the jet. "We just got rid of Deathstroke and..." he trailed off. "You weren't supposed to get here until we contacted you."

Wanda stiffened and looked at Tony. "Something is not right." She said.

"I brought the others." Tony said. Steve realized Wanda was right. Tony's voice was off and his eyes were glazed over.

"Tony –"

Amanda Waller stepped off the Quinjet followed by Dr. Faustus, Sin, and the other members of the Suicide Squad.

"oooooooh." Harley clapped her hands. "Fun!" She looked around excitedly. "Hey, where's the god? I wanted to show him my hammer." She held out a large wooden hammer.

"Tony?" Felicity asked.

Dr. Faustus stepped forward. "We've suspected something was off with Stark from the beginning. It took a bit of persuading, but he eventually turned on you." He leered at them. "Everything we wanted in one sweep. The 2 soldiers will return under Hydra's command and the Captain will be our prisoner." He grinned. "You will get to watch as your friends bring the world under our control. Helpless to do anything." He grinned. "The people will flock to us. After all; Captain America is a dangerous criminal. Tony Stark has been speaking out against you and once the female Winter Soldier has been reprogrammed she will condemn you as well." He grinned. "How ironic; it was your face which gave people hope to defeat Hydra and now it will be your face that leads people us."


	29. Chapter 29

Felicity felt despair coil in her stomach. Tony's face was blank, without his usual humor and mad excitement. She glanced nervously over at Bucky, his face mirrored her emotions; neither wanted to go back to Hydra. He shifted in to a defensive stance and she mirrored him.

"Quicksilver." Steve said, somehow keeping his cool. "Weapons."

"Yes Captain." Pietro zipped around and disarmed the members of the Suicide Squad. Dumping the weapons on the ground behind Steve, he winked at Cupid and Harley who were gaping at him. "Ladies."

"Kill them." Sin said.

"Hold up." Harley Quinn held up her hand, horror on her face. Felicity winced; her voice was high pitched and grating. "I-"

"Silence." Faustus said. Harley opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out. She touched her throat, her expression horrified. Wanda looked at him in confusion.

"How did you do that?" She asked, her eyes glowing red as she stepped toward Faustus. "Your presence is so strong." A red glow encapsulated her hands and began expanding. Faustus was dragged forward until he was encased in a large red sphere with Wanda. Thorough the translucent exterior, Felicity could see Faustus and Wanda glaring at each other; apparently having a telepathic battle.

"Kill them or else we detonate the bombs in your spines." Sin said. Deadshot, Cupid and Harley looked at each other. Cupid shrugged.

"We're dead either way." She said, looking hungrily at Steve. "We might as well have a little fun."

Felicity was about to block Cupid but Deadshot launched himself at her. "I gotta make it look real." He muttered. "Stark said he'd found a way to reroute the bombs before he went pod person. So kick my ass and find a way to shut them off." Felicity ducked under a punch he'd just thrown and kicked him straight in the groin. Lawton fell to the ground, groaning.

"We might be on the same side, but that was for Digg's brother." She hissed.

"I was hoping you wouldn't remember." Lawton gasped. Felicity stepped over him and glanced around. Pietro was standing guard in front of the red cocoon Wanda and Faustus were in. Steve was fighting Sin while Bucky was taking on Harley and Cupid. Tony was zoned out and Waller….Waller was pointing her gun at Steve. Her eyes were glazed over and Felicity knew she was being controlled.

"Steve." Felicity shouted. Looking up, he blocked a strike from Sin and tossed his shield towards Felicity. She caught it, and spun around, using it to knock Waller's gun out of her hand. Waller looked at her in shock.

"I ordered you killed." She hissed.

"Sorry I'm still living." Felicity used the shield to knock her unconscious. Tossing the shield back, she waited until Steve caught it to rush to the cloaked Quinjet Wanda and Pietro had flown in on. Gingerly stepping over Slade's bound and gagged form she made her way to the jets computer.

"FRIDAY? I need to contact the Avengers base."

"Access denied." The AI said.

"What?" Felicity hissed, Tony must have cut off her access. "Okay, we do this the slightly less easy way." It took about a minute, but she managed to get access to FRIDAY's programming and open a channel to the Avengers' base.

"Avengers Assemble." She said, "this is not a drill. We need back up."

"So do we." Sam's harried voice responded. Felicity hacked into a camera and turned it on. Sam was in the training area, facing down a group of Iron legion robots. "Turn these things off." He shouted as he flew around, dodging lasers and bullets.

"I'm trying." Felicity gritted her teeth and began trying to hack Tony's mainframe. "I've been shut out…Tony's been compromised."

"No shit." Sam snarked. "I hadn't noticed."

"Hold on…" Felicity was fighting FRIDAY for control of the legion. "Don't die…"

"Oh, great idea." Sam gasped as one of the robots managed to sneak up behind him and begin strangling him in midair. There was a gun shot. Felicity started and looked at the screen. Natasha was standing underneath Sam and had shot the head off the robot who'd been attacking him. The robot fell to the ground. Sam looked at Natasha in horror.

"What if you'd missed?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow before taking out another robot. "That's a really weird way to say thank you." She looked over at Felicity's screen. "Shut them off."

"Right." Felicity said, turning back to her hack. "Hacking, focusing, shutting them off." Finally she broke through. "YES!" clapped in excitement. The robots in the training room fell to the ground, inert. Sam landed and put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. Natasha holstered her gun.

"Where are Rhodey and Vision?" Felicity asked, turning her attention to disabling the bombs. Waller had to have some sort of remote detonator, which meant that the bombs operated on a frequency she could hack.

"War Machine's suit locked him inside and took off. Vision went after him." Natasha explained.

"How's it going over there?" Sam asked.

"Faustus has been controlling Tony." Felicity said. "I…" she trailed off and glared at the screen. She'd discovered the bomb's frequency, but there was something else. "huh, that's interesting." She frowned, then her eyes widened. "Of course." She grinned. "That's why Wanda couldn't counteract him." There was the sound of gunfire from outside. She needed to work fast.

"How's Cap?" Natasha asked.

"We found Barnes." Felicity muttered, trying to redirect the signal. "And we can play catch up later."

"Why…" Natasha asked. "Did something happen?" Felicity cursed Natasha's intuition. The spy gave her a knowing smirk.

"Besides Tony being brainwashed, you mean?" She asked. "And…BOOM mic drop." She punched the air as the program was successful. "Take that, Hydra." She stood and rushed out of the Quinjet. Wanda and Faustus were still locked into their psychic battle. Rushing over to Lawton she grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. "Where's the control to the bombs."

"Waller had it." Lawton said, squinting at her. "You're a lot stronger than you look." Felicity looked over at Waller, who was still unconscious. Digging through her pockets, she pulled out a small device. She grinned. Lawton looked at her. "What are you…DON'T." Felicity pressed the button. Lawton hugged himself in an attempt to keep his insides inside. He opened his eye and looked around when nothing happened. "I'm not dead."

There was a screech and Faustus fell to his knees. The red globe around him and Wanda disappeared. Faustus put his hands to his temples. Tony shuddered and collapsed. Wanda looked at Felicity in admiration. "What did you do?"

Felicity strode over and grabbed Faustus by the hair, pulling away one of his arms. There was a barely visible scar at the edge of his hair line. She turned him to face in the other direction, showing Wanda an identical scar on the other side. "When I was hacking the bombs' signal, I found another one. The reason he was able to control Waller and Tony is because these implants are attached to his cerebral cortex and amplify his brain waves. Prolonged contact with him would result in him being able to control just about anything a person did without them knowing it was an outside force." She turned to Harley and Cupid, who were still fighting Bucky.. "You don't need to fight him anymore, I disabled the bombs."

"But fighting can lead to such fun!" Harley said. Felicity noted with amusement that Bucky was struggling to keep her away from him for an entirely different reason than before.

"Little help?" He asked, panicked. Cupid was standing off to the side watching Steve and Sin. The confrontation was violent, angry. Sin was clearly going for the kill.

"Look at that form." Cupid said, looking greedily at Steve. "He's so…."

"Taken." Felicity said, crossing her arms and glaring at Cupid. The archer raised an eyebrow.

"She's got her finger on the red button." Deadshot said, "I wouldn't piss her off if I were you."

"Awwww Floyd. You do care." Cupid blew him a kiss. Deadshot snorted.

"Brain matter is really hard to get out of clothes." Lawton snarked.

"I'm not fooled." Cupid said, coming over to hug him. "You love me."

Wanda held out her hands and threw a burst of energy at Sin, knocking her off her feet. "I suggest you stay down." She said, using her power to keep her on the ground. "Pietro, restraints."

Pietro zipped around and in a few seconds Waller, Faustus, and Sin were all bound…as was Tony. Tony frowned and looked down at his hands.

"What the hell Maximoff?" He asked holding them up. "I don't think we've reached the level in our relationship where you can handcuff me." he looked over at Wanda. "Your sister, on the other hand." He flashed her a flirty grin that was almost convincing, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"Pietro." Wanda covered her face while Felicity giggled.

"He could turn on us again." Pietro insisted.

"He barely did anything the first time." Felicity pointed out. "He kinda just stood there and drooled."

"I did not." Tony sounded affronted. He looked around and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "so…Avengers saved the day?" He was tense and clearly ashamed of his role in the day's events, even if none of them had been his fault.

Steve nodded. Tony relaxed.

"Good. That's…that's really good." He looked down at the ground. "I didn't mean to actually go to the dark side."

"It's okay." Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I hear they have cookies." Tony brightened considerably at Steve's joke. Looking down at his handcuffs he smiled.

"Leave these on." He grinned. "I'll have Pepper get them off." Everyone groaned.

"He's back." Pietro muttered. He looked at Harley and Cupid. "Are you two going to behave yourselves or…?" He held up two sets of handcuffs.

"Kinky." Cupid said. Pietro took a step back.

Steve walked over to Bucky. "Are you coming with us?" He asked softly. "I understand if it's too much." Bucky grimaced.

"If you want to stay," Felicity moved forward. "We can help you." He looked at her curiously. Then he turned his attention back to Steve.

"I don't know…everything about who I was." He said finally, looking nervous. "Is that okay?"

"Yes." Steve said, his voice assured and comforting. "I just want you to be safe." Felicity knew he was telling the truth. He'd accept Bucky for the person he was, not who had been. Bucky seemed to understand this too, but there was

"But what if you're not safe with me around?" Bucky asked. "I sorta kicked your ass the last time we fought."

"Are you sure you're remembering that correctly?" Steve smirked. "Because I'm pretty sure I let you win."

Bucky shook his head in exasperation. "One of these days, when I'm better, you and me are going to have a conversation about your self-preservation, Rogers." He bit his lip and took Felicity's hand. "Until then take care of him for me. He's a stubborn reckless punk." Felicity nodded.

"Where will you go?" Steve asked.

"I need to finish what I started." Bucky said. "Hydra's still out there, trying to regroup. I need…no one's going to go through what we went through." He looked at Felicity "I can promise you that."

"Thank you." Felicity said softly. Bucky gave her a slight grin and for a second she glimpsed the care free young man Steve had grown up with.

"Thank you, darlin'."

He turned and walked away.

"Buck." Steve said. "If you're in a spot." Bucky turned and nodded.

"I'll call you."

Tony gaped at Bucky's retreating back. "You're just going to let him walk away?" he hissed.

"We can't force him to join us." Steve said, his posture stiff. He was clearly holding himself back from running after Bucky. "When he's ready, he has a place with us." He watched his former best friend disappear into the forest.

"Urgh." Tony rolled his eyes. "Look at this sappy idiot. Smoak, you better put out quick because it looks like our star spangled man might be pining after someone else."

Steve closed his eyes in irritation. "I think I liked you better when you were feeling guilty and silent." He mumbled. "You're going to clear my name, right?" Tony nodded.

"As soon as I get back, I'm calling a press conference." He said, moving to the Jet he'd come in with ARGUS. "Red, can you be my back up on the plane? I need to get these guys back to ARGUS base and then drop off the crazy Hydra people at the pentagon." Wanda nodded.

"Take Slade with you." Felicity said.

Pietro motioned to the quinjet. "Are you coming?" He asked. Felicity hesitated. Steve put his arm around her, a questioning look in his eyes. She wasn't ready to go back to the base just yet and she knew that if she asked, Steve would agree with her.

"Could we…stay a few more days?" She looked over at the cabin. Steve nodded.

"Whatever you want, doll." He murmured.

Tony's eyes popped out of his head as he took in the sight of the two of them so close. "Doll? Are you…did you….holy shit!" Wanda used her power to drag him to the Quinjet. "How's his flag pole?" He shouted. "Did he cry afterwards? I need details, Smoak."

Steve covered his eyes. "Why me?" He groaned.

"It's because he cares." Felicity said, "He's just…showing it the Tony way." They watched as the 2 Quinjets took off.

"So," Steve pulled her into a tighter embrace. "You've got me trapped here at your mercy, doll… what are you going to do with me?"

"Oh I'll think of something." Felicity grinned and pulled him back towards the cabin.


	30. Chapter 30

Oliver watched the press conference in the Tower's penthouse with Team Flash, Team Arrow, and the Avengers. Tony was on every major news network apologizing to Captain America in front of the world.

"It's not often that I'm wrong." He said. "And this time I caused suffering to people I deeply care about. Captain Steven Rogers did not kidnap Felicity Smoak. She was abducted two years ago by Hydra and tortured into becoming a weapon for their control. The images of Captain Rogers carrying her were taken the day we infiltrated a base and found her. I…the truth is Hydra's ability to corrupt is stronger than we anticipated. In attempting to keep her hidden, we attempted to infiltrate a suspected Hydra cell. As a result…" He broke off. Glaring at the podium he crumpled a bunch of notecards in his fist and looked at the camera. "Look, I was mind controlled. This crazy man with telepathy messed with my head and I" his eyes were haunted and filled with regret. "…I accused the most honorable man in the world of a horrible, terrible, very bad crime he is 100% innocent of. Steve Rogers is not a monster; he 's the irritatingly perfect, square jawed, classically handsome, star spangled man with a plan that we all love." He bit his lip. "And Felicity Smoak is the victim of the twisted experimentation of a man known as Baron Von Strucker. There's no…there's no way I can make up for the damage I caused, but I hope that Captain Rogers can forgive me…and that the people of this world can move forward past my…mistake." He took a breath, trying to center himself. "That's all. No questions." He walked away from the podium.

"Does this mean Felicity's coming home?" Roy asked. Scarlet Witch, who was sitting watching Quicksilver fight a thumb war with Barry, turned to smile at him.

"She and Captain Rogers should be making their way back to the base very soon." She assured him. Falcon and the Black Widow shared knowing smirks. Roy frowned and was about to ask a follow up question when she added. "I do not know if she'll come back to Starling." Roy recoiled.

"How did you?" he asked, looking at her in awe, but also fear.

"She's a mind reader." The Falcon said. "You think it's creepy now? Try living with her."

Wanda crossed her arms. "I would not be so quick to insult me, Wilson." She smirked. "Not unles…" She trailed off, her gaze intense. Clearly the rest of the thought was conveyed telepathically because Falcon's eyes popped from their sockets and he cleared his throat uncomfortably. Oliver noted that he, while he had been standing next to Thea during the conference, he now placed some distance between them. Oliver glared.

"What happened to Waller?" Thea asked, unaware of her brother's gaze or choosing to ignore it.

"She's on probation." Lyla said. "They contacted me to be her watchdog but…" She shook her head. "They had me vet a guy to take over. He's promising. Marine, just got back from 2 tours. His name is John Stewart." Digg nodded in approval.

"I know him. He's a good man." Digg said.

"The Squad?" Maria Hill asked.

"The bombs have been removed and they're under watch." Lyla said. "But…Sin, Deathstroke and Faustus are…"She frowned. "Well I think you'd be in a better position to know where they are since you worked out that deal with ARGUS to contain them."

"They're with Coulson." Maria said, dismissively. The name meant nothing to Oliver, but if Pepper Potts and the Widow's reactions were anything to go by, it was significant. "Oops." Hill smirked, sipping her drink, her tone implying that she really wasn't sorry about her slip.

"Where?" Natasha hissed as Pepper gasped "how?"

"Ask Fury." Maria said to Natasha. "And that's classified." She smiled at Pepper who grit her teeth.

Oliver sat heavily down on the couch, ignoring the conversations of those around him. They all seemed at ease, relieved. Felicity's mother had taken a seat next to Quicksilver and was trying to get all the information she could about her daughter and her relationship with Rogers. Nyssa and Widow had their heads together, drawing uneasy looks from those around them. Roy and Laurel were sitting with Team Flash laughing as Cisco alternated between thinking up codenames for Felicity and poking Vision to check if he was real. Thea was listening to Sam Wilson recount how he'd fought off Tony's Iron Legion.

"Hey man." Digg said, sitting next to him and handing him a beer. "You've got your Eeyore face on."

"Eeyore?" Oliver said slowly.

"I've got a 2 and a half year old." Digg shrugged, taking a swig. "My TV habits have been altered to accommodate."

Oliver took the bottle and rolled it between his hands, not taking a sip. "I was…just thinking about how different things would have been if Waller hadn't intercepted that transmission and we had found her first."

"It could have went many ways." Scarlet Witch's voice rang through his head. Oliver glared at her. She looked at him sadly. "Do you want to know?" She asked, this time speaking aloud.

He hesitated…then nodded. Scarlet Witch stood and walked over to him.

"Once I show you…" She said softly. "I cannot take it back." She held out her hands. "Are you sure this is what you want?" Oliver nodded

Her eyes glowed red. Oliver looked at her in confusion, then all he could see was red. His vision cleared and he saw Felicity, attacking him. Furious. Her eyes cold, unfeeling. She was strong. Stronger then him, maybe stronger than Slade had been and he wasn't fighting back. He couldn't; it was Felicity. He was begging her to listen when…she killed him.

The scene changed. Felicity was chained up in the lair. Fighting, promising to fulfil her orders. Hydra agents swarmed the lair and executed her.

This time she was begging him to end it. Waking up screaming in the night, her dreams dark and full of blood.

She was getting better. She almost looked like her former self, but the guilt. He could feel his guilt separating them. Creating a gulf so wide he couldn't bring himself to cross it and be with her.

"Stop." He croaked as scenario after scenario played out in front of his eyes. There were so few happy ones. So few where she was his and they were together and safe. The red glow disappeared. He was covered in a cold sweat on the couch, looking up into Scarlet Witch…Wanda's eyes. There were tears coming down her cheeks.

"Those were some of the possible outcomes." Wanda said, her voice full of regret. Oliver realized how young she was; she couldn't be much older than Thea and yet her eyes were so wise; a side effect of the heavy burden of her abilities.

He exhaled harshly, trying to get his heart rate under control. "And the out comes with Rogers?" He asked. "I'm guessing they were all amazing." He added, bitterly.

"Not all of them." Wanda admitted. "But more of them." She sat next to him. "When Felicity began regaining her memories she was…terrified of you seeing her. She did not want her friends to see what she had become because she was afraid you would reject her. She did not want to be alone."

"I wouldn't have…." Oliver trailed off. Wanda looked at him sadly. "I love her." He insisted softly. It was the first time he'd admitted it out loud and Wanda seemed to understand that.

"You loved the woman you knew." She said. "But she is no longer that person. Captain Rogers did not see her as anything more than the person in front of him." She put her hand on his shoulder. "In time, perhaps you can learn to accept her as well." She stood and turned back to her brother who was telling Donna Smoak about a dodge ball training exercise the Avengers had participated in. "But for now you can at least take comfort in the fact that your son is growing into a fine young man."

Oliver frowned. "Wait…my what?"

* * *

They drove up to the Avengers' base. Steve stopped the car. "Ready?" he asked. Felicity bit her lip, but nodded stiffly.

"I-" She began, but Steve blinked and suddenly she was outside being spun around by Pietro. He watched as shock, confusion, then amusement played out on her face. He put his elbow on the base of the car window and leaned his face on his fist, content to watch Felicity reunite with her friend. A few seconds later Wanda and Sam came out of the facility followed by Vision, Rhodey and Natasha. At their approach, Steve opened the door and got out of the car.

"Wanda told us you were coming!" Pietro said. "We have cake!"

"Man, that was supposed to be a surprise." Sam rolled his eyes, and pulled Felicity out of Pietro's embrace. "How are you?" He asked as he folded her into a hug.

"Glad to be home." She said softly. She looked over Sam's shoulder at Steve and he realized how much she meant it. Against whatever odds, this place was her home…and the collective group of misfits and outcasts; her family.

"You gonna to stand there all day Rogers?" Natasha asked as Wanda and Pietro piled on top of Sam and Felicity. Steve started; he'd been so transfixed that he'd just frozen on the outside of the car. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "You're not exactly getting any younger."

"Come on, Cap." Sam grinned. "Group hug, it's good for morale."

Natasha raised an eyebrow and, to Steve's surprise, joined in. Vision and Rhodey were next. Steve hesitated a beat before walking over and joining them.

"This is a strange activity to take part in." Vision commented. "You cannot possibly hope to hug everyone in the group. Would it not be more advantageous to hug each person individually and –"

"Shut up and feel the love, Vision." Rhodey rolled his eyes. Vision closed his mouth and looked around at their huddle.

"I must admit to a certain…tingly sensation in my stomach." He said quietly, clearly confused. "It is…not unpleasant." The team erupted into giggles. Steve caught sight of Felicity's expression. She was positively glowing, her smile was so bright. Looking at her he amended his earlier thought. This wasn't just Felicity's home and family: it was his as well.


	31. Chapter 31

Pepper had taken all the girls on a shopping spree in anticipation of the insane victory party Tony was throwing. Felicity hadn't wanted to go. Being in public spaces often made her uncomfortable and ever since Tony had leaked her image to the media during his "Captain America" criminal campaign, she often got recognized. Fortunately Pepper had foreseen and that and had Tony pay Saks to keep the store empty of all shoppers so the girls wouldn't be disturbed.

"What about this one?" Wanda held up a dress.

"Red? Again?" Natasha snorted. "Not very imaginative, Wanda."

"Just because you can't wear the color because of your hair." Wanda shot back.

Natasha frowned at the dress she was holding, "besides. That dress is too bulky on the shoulders."

Wanda sighed.

"Can't you just…look into the future to see what you're going to pick?" Felicity asked, sitting down on a bench next to the rack Wanda and Natasha were browsing. "Or better yet, what I'm going to pick?"

Wanda and Natasha looked at each other, identical smirks on their faces. Felicity looked at them warily. "What are you guys plotting?"

"We've sort of already picked out one for you." Natasha said.

"But- " Felicity protested, as they moved on either side of her and made her stand

"No, negotiations." They urged her towards a dressing room.

"Pepper?" Natasha asked, holding out a hand. Pepper handed her a dress. Natasha pressed it to Felicity's chest and gently pushed her in the dressing room, shutting the door.

"There's shoes and a purse to match." Pepper said.

Felicity looked down at the dress in her hands. "Why do I get the feeling this dress costs more than all the money I've ever had in my bank account."

"Stark's good for it." Natasha said, dismissively. Felicity slipped on the dress.

"Um…"

"Sooo…" Pepper said. "How does it look?'

"I…" Felicity said.

"She loves it." Wanda said.

"I hate you." Felicity grumbled.

"No you do not." Wanda laughed.

* * *

"Is it weird that I'm more nervous about this than fighting Hydra?" Steve grumbled.

Felicity stuck her head of the bedroom in his…their tower apartment to look at him. He had his arms crossed and was glaring at his reflection in the mirror. "Tony said if we didn't show he'd bring the party to us." She pointed out. Steve huffed. "Ready?" She asked, coming out of the room, putting in her earrings.

"Ye…" His jaw dropped. "Doll you…you're…" he flushed and rubbed the back of his head, clearing his throat. Felicity leaned against the doorframe.

"Like it?" She asked, turning so he could get the full effect. Natasha had picked a strapless silver dress with slight red details. It looked like the dress was made of smoke with flames peeking out. Steve moved forward hesitantly and reached forward.

"I don't know whether to kiss you…or." He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Or?" Felicity prompted.

"You look like a work of art." He said, breathless. "I want to draw you."

Felicity ducked her face, smiling softly. "Come on." She said, dragging him towards the elevator. "Before Tony gets ideas."

"Can't you just hack, FRIDAY so he can't get to us?" Steve asked.

"Probably, but if do, he'll take it as a personal insult and I promised Pepper I wouldn't bruise his very fragile ego." Felicity shrugged.

The elevator opened and Steve motioned for her to walk on first.

"Why, thank you Captain Rogers." Felicity said.

"No problem, Ma'am." Steve said, holding out his arm. Felicity took it.

"Don't call me ma'am, it makes me feel old." She said, leaning against him.

"What's wrong with old?" Steve asked.

"Nothing." Felicity grinned. "I like old things…" She wrinkled her nose. "That wasn't the best way to say that." Steve was beaming down at her when the elevator stopped at Natasha's floor. Natasha got on and smirked at them.

"Nice, dress." She said.

"Yours too." Felicity said, admiring Natasha's blood red cocktail dress.

"And Scarlet Witch said I couldn't wear red." She chuckled. "I'll show her."

"Something tells me she already knows." Steve said. The elevator stopped on Tony's party floor.

"Brace yourself." Natasha said. "A Stark party is coming."

The doors opened and they were hit by a wall of sound. Felicity winced.

"What I wouldn't give for regular hearing." She muttered, covering her ears. Steve looked over at Tony who was approaching them, grinning from ear to ear.

"And it's about to get louder." He murmured.

"If it isn't our favorite perfect, blonde haired, blue eyed power couple." He said, throwing his arms around their shoulders. "Does it ever bother you that your children would be the master race Red Skull saw in his wet dreams?"

Felicity and Steve looked at him in horror. Natasha took the drink Tony had in his hands.

"I'm confiscating that." She muttered.

"Hey, ain't no party like a Stark party, because a Stark party means earth mightiest heroes are getting totally waaaassteeeeeed." Tony declared in a sing song voice, moving away from them to try and grab his drink back from Natasha.

"I can't get drunk." Felicity and Steve said simultaneously. Tony stopped and looked at them, blinking.

"Okay, I've heard of double vision, but since when does it involve a gender swap?" He said, pointing between the two of them. Pepper walked over and took Tony, mouthing an apology at them.

The doors behind them opened, admitting more guests.

"We should…" Felicity started.

"Probably get away from the elevator." Steve finished. They grinned at each other before Pietro zoomed by and made a retching noise.

"Pietro." Felicity said, giving him a playful shove.

"Матерь Божья, what are you wearing?"

Felicity grinned and spun around. "You like? Natasha picked it out for me. Are you questioning her taste?"

"No?" Pietro gulped nervously. Then his eyes lit up as he looked at the elevator. "Barry's here."

He rushed off to have a super fast conversation with Barry. Caitlin and Cisco, who were standing next to Barry covered their ears and moved away.

"Felicity." Caitlin said. "You're…I…can I hug you?" She awkwardly held out her arms. Felicity knew she was nervous about how she would react and couldn't blame her. Nodding, she let the other scientist pull her into a tentative hug.

"I'm so glad you're back."

"So," Cisco said, pushing Caitlin out of the way. "Am I. We have much to discuss. Like how you haven't come to me for a codename yet?" He crossed his arms.

"Weeell." Felicity looked over at Steve. "I kinda came up with one."

"Reeeally?" Cisco looked skeptically. "Come on, let's hear it."

"Firebird." Felicity said. Steve smiled. They'd been discussing codenames because Tony had threatened to release the name Winter Barbie to the media. Steve had been cooking during the conversation and when she tried to help, it of course ended in flames, smoke and Steve rushing for the fire extinguisher. Steve had jokingly suggested Phoenix because she always came out of the fire alive and after Felicity had shaken her head at his awkward humor she'd given the idea some thought. "I wanted something…warm." She said. "I considered phoenix, but…it seemed like it carried too much baggage."

Cisco pursed his lips. "I don't like it." He said. "I LOVE it. Okay, new costume, I'm thinking we keep the black, but add red and –"

"The costume stays the same." Felicity said.

"But-"

Caitlin rolled her eyes before dragging him away.

Felicity laughed, looking around the room, she caught sight of Oliver. Touching Steve's shoulder, she murmured. "Can you get me a drink that I'm not going to feel?" Steve nodded, looking over at Oliver.

"I'll be at the bar."

Felicity walked across the room. Oliver hadn't noticed her, his back was to the room. Felicity stopped behind him, hesitant to alert him of her presence. She closed her eyes and tried to fight her survival instincts which were telling her to run. Reaching out, she tapped Oliver on the shoulder. He turned, his eyes growing wide when he recognized her.

"Hey." She said, softly.

"Hey." He breathed, looking her up and down as if he were trying to convince himself she was really here. "I was hoping you'd be here tonight."

"Well, it is a victory party in the Avengers honor and…" She shrugged. "I'm kinda an Avenger. Don't know how that happened, they must be desperate for recruits." She hoped to use humor to hide how uncomfortable she was.

"You deserve it." Oliver said, "and you look… happy." He smiled. "And you're safe, which is…all I really wanted." His voice cracked a bit with emotion. Felicity squeezed his forearm.

"Thank you, for looking for me." She said. "Barry told me you never gave up and…that means more than you know."

Oliver nodded, stiff.

"Hug?" Felicity suggested, trying to break the awkwardness of the moment. Oliver coughed and nodded.

"Hug sounds good." He agreed. Felicity stepped into his arms. She dimly remembered a time when Oliver hugging her like this would have made her jittery for hours, but now all she felt was happiness that he'd accepted her as she was. She pulled back, examining him. She definitely cared about him, but even with her memories coming back there was nothing romantic there.

"I was thinking of coming to Starling." She said.

"With…Steve?" Oliver said.

She decided to ignore his obvious dislike for Steve. "Maybe." She said. "We're pretty busy with Avengers stuff and it's hard to get away for a while. I know I'm going to Vegas to visit my mom and she sort of adopted Pietro and Wanda so they'll definitely be there."

"DANCE OFF!" Tony shouted. "Avengers, Assemble in that corner and others…. On the other side." He grinned.

"Tony." Rhodey groaned as Pietro and Barry began zipping around the room, carrying the different members of the teams to the opposite corners of the room. Barry put Laurel, Thea, Caitlin, Cisco and Digg on one side. Pietro grabbed Sam, Wanda, Steve, Vision, and …he stopped when he got to Natasha. Instead of carrying her, he gave a little bow and gestured to the Avengers side of the room, Natasha grinned and walked over. "Smart boy." She commented.

"Doll?" Steve asked, looking over at her.

"I'll pass." Felicity said, "I just remembered that I can't dance…well. 2 left feet."

"LISSSIE!" Everyone in the room turned to see Donna Smoak rushing out of the elevator and launching herself at Felicity.

Felicity's eyes widened and a part of her tensed for an attack. Her mother enveloped her in her arms. "Baby," Donna said, squeezing her. "you're okay." She pulled back, tears in her yes. "let me look at you." She bit her lip. "No I changed my mind, I need another hug." She pulled her close again.

"Mom." Felicity said, putting her arms around her and tentatively put her head on Donna's shoulder.

"Awwwww." Tony said. "Ain't love great?"

"Perhaps you should take this somewhere more private?" Wanda suggested telepathically. "I will distract Stark."

Felicity watched as Wanda conjured a large red ball of light in her palm. Tony stared at it transfixed.

"Thanks." She mouthed. Wanda grinned.

"Drunk Stark is like a 5 year old." She said. "Easily distracted by shiny things."

Felicity tugged her mother into one of the side rooms. Before she left, she met Steve's eyes. He gave her an encouraging smile before being pushed out onto the dance floor by Pietro and Sam.

She closed the door and turned to look at her mom. Donna was looking at her.

"I brought a bunch of photos and videos and stuff from home which might help with the memory process." She said. "I can't wait for you to visit…" she covered her mouth. "You look so amazing."

"I'm doing a lot better." Felicity admitted.

"It's not just that." Donna looked at her. "You look…stronger, more confident somehow."

Felicity bit her lip. "I just wish I could have gotten to the confidence without the…" she stopped, not sure how to continue. Her mother seemed to understand, and took her hands.

"You're an Avenger now, a hero. You can help others you might be trapped like you and save people from being hurt by the same people who took you."

Felicity felt her eyes watering. "Thanks mom."

Donna brushed a strand of hair out of Felicity's eyes. "My beautiful, brilliant girl." She sighed. "Who's dating Captian America."

"Oh god." Felicity groaned. "Mom, we were this close to passing the Bechdel test." Secretly she didn't mind and she took a small level of comfort from her mother gushing about how wonderful Steve was. It was familiar, and she knew that no matter what was in her past, her mother would be supportive of her. Opening the door and going back to the party, she watched in amusement as Barry and Cisco were trying to teach Vision and Steve the electric slide.

"Mommy Smoak." Tony said, walking over and dragging Rhodey behind him. "This is my very single friend Colonel James Rhodes, now he's shy and socially impaired so he would probably have tried to chat you up using a stupid and horrible tank story, which is why he needs me as his wing man."

Rhodey tried to protest, but Tony shushed him. "I'm nailing this, let me work my magic." He stage whispered. Turning back he winked at Felicity who was glaring at him.

"I did not ask him to do this." Rhodey said quickly.

Donna raised an eyebrow. "Colonel, you say." She held out her hand. "Donna Smoak."

"Mom." Felicity covered her face, peeking out through her fingers to watch Rhodey and Donna step away to make small talk. "Stark, I'll get you for this. On a dark and stormy night when your guard's down and the rain can wash away most of the trace evidence."

"Ha." Tony said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "Look at it this way; I could have just introduced your mom to your new daddy."

"Felicity." Steve came over with his phone in hand. "Can I talk to you in private?"

Tony stepped away. "If you wanted to sneak away, you could have used a better excuse than a convenient phone call." He smirked. "But I guess Cap's pretty eager what with a whole 3 quarters of a century of virginity to make up for."

Steve grabbed Felicity around the waist and dragged her away from Tony.

"Let me at him." she said, as he shut the door, blocking them out from the party.

"No," he chuckled. "You'll regret it later."

"I doubt that." Felicity muttered. "and I know for a fact that you almost beat him up that day on the helicarrier the first time you met."

"Key word being almost." Steve retorted. Felicity rasied an eyebrow. "If the helicarrier hadn't been attacked by Loki's henchmen I would have probably taught him a lesson." He admitted. "But I would have regretted doing it later."

Felicity laughed. They began walking out to the balcony. The entire city was lit up in front of them. Felicity closed her eyes and let the night air blow on her face. When she opened her eyes, Steve was staring at her. "Want to draw me?" she asked.

"No." Steve said. "I want to do this." He pulled her close and kissed her.

"You can do that anytime." Felicity murmured as they pulled apart, pressing her face against his chest. Steve wound his arms around her. "But the next time you want me alone you might want to work on your excuses. The phone thing was a bit obvious."

"Actually…" Steve began. "I actually did get a call."

Felicity looked up with a questioning expression on her face.

"Bucky thinks he found a new branch of Hydra. Apparently it's being rebuilt by a man named Grant Ward, a former low level Hydra sleeper in SHIELD. He's not exactly a threat, but he's got a lot of trainees and Buck thinks it might go fast it he had back up. Plus it would mean a major arrest and cripple all future endeavors to rebuild Hydra." Steve paused.

"You want me to be your back up?" Felicity asked. Steve shook his head.

"No, I want you to be my partner." He said. "I know you'll have my back and I've got yours."

Felicity smiled. "I guess we better suit up, then."

"True."

They both turned to see Natasha and Sam standing in full uniform on the other side of the balcony.

"Wanda told us." Natasha explained. "I have a score to settle with Ward. You know he called me eye candy?"

Sam tossed them their uniforms. "Wheels up in 5, you can change on the jet." Felicity caught the shield and handed it to Steve. He smiled.

"Ready Captain?" she asked.

"After you, Firebird."


End file.
